Analysis
Perspective from Coalition Partners
American Atheists works with a diverse coalition of partners on issues related to religious equality, religious freedom, and religious harm.
As part of the State of the Secular States Report, we have asked our partners to provide additional context about specific areas of concern in public policy.
Released Time Programs Are Coercive and Undermine Secular Public Education
GEOFFREY BLACKWELL
Litigation Counsel, American Atheists
Released time programs are growing more prevalent in recent years and more disruptive to students who don’t participate. These programs have existed since at least 1950, when Zorach v. Clauson began winding its way up through the New York court system on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court
Anti-Abortion Centers: A Persistent Anti-Abortion Policy Directly Targeting Patients
KIMYA FOROUZAN
Principal State Policy Associate, Guttmacher Institute
Anti-abortion centers, also known as crisis pregnancy centers, aim to prevent pregnant people from obtaining abortion care and contraception. While the landscape of abortion access has shifted in major ways in the aftermath of Dobbs, one persistent restrictive state policy has been state funding of anti-abortion centers
Anti-Abortion Groups Are Passing State Laws to Mandate Lying to Students About Human Development
MIRANDA ESTES
State Policy and Action Manager, SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change
One of the regressive legislative trends we faced in 2024 was “Meet Baby Olivia” bills. Ten states — Iowa, Missouri, Hawaii, Virginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky — ran legislation attempting to mandate showing students a computer-generated, misleading, and medically inaccurate video depicting fetal development from fertilization to birth in an attempt to elicit feelings, not educate
States Must Regulate Health Care Sharing Ministries
SARAH LEVIN
Founder/Principal, Secular Strategies; Consultant, Center for Freethought Equality
Across the country, religiously affiliated nonprofit organizations are selling junk health insurance to consumers who often think they’re purchasing traditional health insurance. They’re called Health Care Sharing Ministries