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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Religious Liberty for Some?

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Monday, April 9, 2018   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- New guidelines from the Trump administration that claim to protect religious freedoms may actually infringe on more freedoms than they protect.

A new report from the Center for American Progress found the "religious exemptions" open the door for discrimination across dozens of federal agencies and programs. The guidelines limit enforcement of protections if government employees, or third parties that get federal funds, decide not to provide services because they feel it goes against their religious beliefs.

Study co-author Sharita Gruberg, associate director for the LGBT research and communications project at the Center for American Progress, said while freedom of religion is a core American value, her group's findings show the administration appears to be interested in securing those values only for a select few.

"Namely those who have more conservative viewpoints, that are anti-women's reproductive rights, anti-LGTBQ equality,” Gruberg said. “Those are the very particular religious viewpoints that have been elevated by this administration."

Gruberg noted the guidelines, issued by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in October, already are having an impact. Last week, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson reversed a discrimination ruling, claiming a colonel's refusal to recognize the same-sex spouse of a retiring master sergeant was justified based on his religious views.

Gruberg said under the guidelines, hospital workers could refuse to provide emergency contraception to sexual assault survivors and government contractors could deny housing to LGBT youths, if it conflicted with their religious beliefs. She argued that freedom of religion was meant to prevent government intrusion, but pointed out those liberties have limits - especially when they infringe on the rights of others.

"And the problem with religious liberty as it's been interpreted by Jeff Sessions is that he's upholding religious viewpoints above other rights,” she said.

The report said the fact that the administration is prioritizing religious liberty doesn't necessarily mean it's legal. While some high-profile cases will be decided in court, Gruberg said it's also important for average Americans to sound the alarm if they experience discrimination.


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The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

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