The Arizona legislature is still in session but not for long. There is a big push during these last days to get many of the religiously inspired laws enacted. The government should be neutral in regards to religion, neither advancing nor restricting religion. Unfortunately, there are many in our Arizona legislature that are confused on this issue and they are wrong. In this country, we are free to choose our religion or have none at all. The government shouldn’t be favoring the religious over the nonreligious. If your religion tells you that abortions are bad then don’t have one. The Catholic Church isn’t big on contraception then if you’re Catholic then don’t use contraception. These are not areas where the legislature should be weighing in and creating laws. There is NO SECULAR REASON that a person shouldn’t have an abortion. There is NO SECULAR REASON that a person shouldn’t use contraception. The government should not be delving in such matters.

I’m going to be borrowing a great deal of information from an alert I just received from the Secular Coalition for Arizona. I’m an officer of that organization and encourage anyone that believes in secular governance to sign up for their alerts. You can sign up here. You can also donate to the cause.

Act NOW to Prevent these Theocratic Measures from Becoming Law!

Today! (Thursday, April 12) the Religious Right is once again trying to push through a whole slew of bills at once. Stay strong during this flurry of Action Alerts! This week represents part of the FINAL PUSH before the end of the legislative season, and religionists are working overtime to sneak as many damaging bills through as possible; it is imperative that we continue to respond en masse. This assault on secular government and Enlightenment values must end!

Please call or email your REPRESENTATIVES and tell them to vote NO on the following bill:

SB1365 (free exercise of religion) is a refusal clause couched as a “religious liberty” bill, which empowers doctors, hospitals, lawyers, pharmacists, and other professionals to deny essential services to anyone a religious professional disagrees with (including LGBT people, religious minorities, and nonbelievers). The bill uses “religious liberty” as an excuse to discriminate against vulnerable Arizonans and endangers the basic right of equality.

You can find your representatives here, or if you need help, call or email Seráh Blain ANYTIME (serah@secularAZ.org; 602-363-8018). Be sure to have your full address and zip code+4.

Please call GOVERNOR BREWER’s office at (602) 542-4331 and tell her to VETO the following bill:

HB2036 (abortion; procedures; informed consent; requirements) is dangerously anti-science and will hurt women, families and doctors. The bill lacks evidence to support the medical procedures it legislates, creates too many liability issues for doctors, and fails to ensure women receive unbiased, comprehensive information about their health. This bill will drive up the cost of malpractice insurance in our state and discourage obstetricians from practicing in Arizona.

Please call or email your SENATORS and tell them to vote NO on the following bills:

SB1359 (civil liability; wrongful birth, life or conception claims; application) allows doctors to refrain from fully informing pregnant women of prenatal health issues if the doctor feels such information could lead to an abortion, and shields the doctor from legal liability. It is absolutely unconscionable to deny women relevant information about their health and pregnancy; doctors absolutely must be required to provide accurate, comprehensive information to all Arizonans about their medical situation.

HB2563 (biblical influence; schools; electives) allows the teaching of the Christian bible in public schools, but excludes all sectarian and denominational materials that present other belief or nonbelief perspectives (including the Book of Mormon; Jewish texts like the Tanakh, Talmud and Midrash; the Koran, etc). This is unconstitutional. Expensive constitutional lawsuits, costing taxpayer money, are sure to follow.

HB2800 (public funding; family planning) represents a serious threat to the healthcare access of Arizonans on public health assistance by denying reimbursement for medical care to clinics, like Planned Parenthood, that also provide abortion. Public funding of abortion is already prohibited in Arizona, so this bill serves no secular purpose and is part of a faith-based trend to limit access to unbiased family-planning services.

You can find your senator here, or if you need help, call or email Seráh Blain ANYTIME (serah@secularAZ.org; 602-363-8018). Be sure to have your full address and zip code+4.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2012 at 12:52 am and is filed under Abortion, Arizona Families, AZ Politics, Christian Self-Righteous Arrogance, Christianity, Creationism, Critical Thinking, Ethics, Faith, Fundamentalism, God & Bible, Government, Reason, Religion, Responsible Government, Sanity, Separation of Church & State. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.