Interfaith Alliance Blasts Impending Department of Heath and Human Services Rule for “Using Religious Freedom as a License to Discriminate”

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Interfaith Alliance Blasts Impending Department of Heath and Human Services
Rule for “Using Religious Freedom as a License to Discriminate”
The rule will allow taxpayer-funded agencies to discriminate on the basis
of religion, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

WASHINGTON, D.C.Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced its intent to permit HHS grant recipients to discriminate on the basis of religion, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Katy Joseph, Policy and Legislative Advisor for Interfaith Alliance, strongly condemned the action, saying:

“With today’s announcement, the federal department charged with ‘protect[ing] the health and wellbeing of all Americans’ has instead exposed millions to potential harm. The right of religious freedom protects personal belief. It does not permit the use of taxpayer funds to shame, exclude, or reject others because they do not share our faith.

“Hundreds of faith-based agencies receive government grants to perform essential services – without turning away those in need. Today’s announcement is a gift to the very small number of entities who would weaponize their personal beliefs to prevent the formation of loving families simply because the adoptive parents are LGBTQ+ or turn away patients in crisis because the nature of the care they seek.

“This is exactly the sort of religious favoritism the Establishment Clause prohibits. Interfaith Alliance will fight this distortion of religious freedom at every turn.”

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Interfaith Alliance is a network of people of diverse faiths and beliefs from across the country working together to build a resilient democracy and fulfill America’s promise of religious freedom and civil rights not just for some, but for all. We mobilize powerful coalitions to challenge Christian nationalism and religious extremism, while fostering a better understanding of the healthy boundaries between religion and government. We advocate at all levels of government for an equitable and just America where the freedoms of belief and religious practice are protected, and where all persons are treated with dignity and have the opportunity to thrive. For more information visit interfaithalliance.org.