Religious-Liberty-Annual-Report

14 III – Religious Liberty and Congress

threatening his son. Houck was later found not guilty of charges brought against him under the FACE Act. In September 2023, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced a bill to repeal the FACE Act. As of this writing, it has thirty-one cosponsors in the House and five cosponsors in the Senate, all Republicans. 3. The Women’s Health Protection Act The Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) would impose abortion on demand nationwide at any stage of pregnancy through federal statute. Im mediately upon passage, the WHPA would invali date state laws protecting the preborn from abor tion, even late in a pregnancy, and including laws that prohibit abortion based on race, sex, disability, or other characteristics. It would likely override conscience laws, state and federal, that protect the right of health care providers and professionals, employers, and insurers not to perform, assist in, refer for, cover, or pay for abortion. WHPA ex pressly eliminates defenses under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The House passed the Women’s Health Protec tion Act in 2021 and in 2022, but it stalled in the Senate. Introduced by Rep. Judy Chue (D-CA) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), the current WHPA has 212 cosponsors in the House (every House Democrat but one, no Republican cosponsors) and 48 cosponsors in the Senate (45 Democrats and three Independents). President Biden has called for its passage.

nondiscrimination laws to prohibit “sexual orien tation and gender identity” discrimination, and impose an abortion mandate, while explicitly ex empting itself from the bipartisan Religious Free dom Restoration Act. Its negative impact would be widespread. Specifically, the Equality Act: • Would likely require taxpayers to fund elective abortions, because of the way it redefines “sex” discrimination. • Would also likely force doctors and hos pitals to perform abortions even if against their conscience or beliefs. • Would likely require all employers with more than fourteen employees, including religious organizations, to cover abortions in their health insurance plans. • Would restrict people who are struggling with their gender, including children and teens, from accessing needed help in loving themselves and their bodies; and would instead falsely present life-altering attempts to change sex as their only social and medical option. • Would mandate that doctors and counsel ors must perform and promote life-alter ing gender transitions, even when they do not think it is in the best interests of their patient. • Would require even religious organiza tions to cover gender “transition” proce dures in their employee health insurance plans, and to retain employees who public ly contradict the organizations’ teachings and beliefs. • Would force girls and women to compete against males in school sports for limited positions on women’s teams and opportu nities for college scholarships. • Would force girls and women to share locker rooms, gym showers, restrooms, and dorm rooms with males who self-identify as girls or women. • Would force vulnerable, sometimes trau matized, girls and women in shelters or social services programs to share sleep

C. Bills on Human Sexuality Issues

1. The Equality Act The Equality Act raises the greatest threat to re ligious freedom currently before Congress. It is a sweeping bill that would amend numerous federal

The Equality Act raises the greatest threat to religious freedom currently before Congress.