THE DO NO HARM ACT

AU Protects Religious Freedom for All

Summary

Religious freedom is a shield to protect everyone—not a weapon to discriminate or harm others.

But Christian Nationalists and their lawmaker allies are misusing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to justify discrimination, deny health care, block access to jobs, and withhold government-funded services. This misuse harms LGBTQ+ individuals, women, religious minorities, and nonreligious people—undermining the very principles of fairness and equality.

The Do No Harm Act will ensure that RFRA is used as it was intended: to protect religious freedom without harming others. The DNHA will safeguard the right to practice any faith—or none at all—while making sure that religious beliefs are not used to harm others.

Our nation is strongest when we all have the freedom to live as ourselves and believe as we choose—without infringing on the rights of others. The Do No Harm Act makes sure that religious freedom remains what it was always meant to be: a shield for all, not a sword for harm.

Resources

Issues

Learn more about the important issues we face

Articles

What you should know about the issues

Milestones

Visit the timeline of important milestones

Take Action

What you can do today to defend reproductive rights

Issues

Articles

Milestones

Take Action

ISSUES

What You Should Know:

Restoring RFRA

Restoring RFRA

The Do No Harm Act would bar RFRA from being used to undermine anti-discrimination laws, deny access to healthcare, evade child labor laws, thwart laws to protect workers’ rights, and refuse to provide services under a government grant or contract.

Diverse Supporters

Diverse Supporters

More than 100 civil rights, LGBTQ, health, women’s, labor and faith organizations have endorsed the Do No Harm Act.

Faith groups for religious freedom

Faith groups for religious freedom

More than 30 religious organizations representing people from diverse faith traditions–including Muslims, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Wiccans, Orthodox Jews, Reform Jews, and Hindus–support the passage of the bill.

AU Testifies on the Do No Harm Act

“We are a stronger nation when we protect religious freedom for all, not just for some; when we are all free to believe or not, as we see fit, and to practice our faith—without hurting others; and when the government doesn’t elevate the religious beliefs of some over the rights of others.”

READ RACHEL'S TESTIMONY

ARTICLES

Recommended Reading

MILESTONES

Timeline:

Bobby Scott

March 2025

Representatives Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) as well as Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduce the Do No Harm Act in the 119th Congress.

April 2023

Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduce the Do No Harm Act in the 118th Congress.
LEARN MORE

September 2021

After Kamala Harris became Vice President, Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) became the main sponsor of the Do No Harm Act in the Senate.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott

February 2021

The Do No Harm Act was introduced again in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), who was joined by several new lead sponsors: Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.).

June 2019

AU President and CEO Rachel Laser testified before the House Education and Labor Committee on the misuse of RFRA, urging members of Congress to support the Do No Harm Act. She was joined by Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
WATCH THE HEARING ON THE MISUSE OF RFRA

May 2016

For the first time, the Do No Harm Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Reps. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.).The bill was reintroduced again in the House in 2017 and 2019; and in the Senate by then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Cal.) in 2018 and 2019.

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