Make no mistake: Donald Trump’s return the White House will present a host of challenges to Americans United. But remember, we’ve been at this since 1947 and have lived through several administrations hostile to church-state separation. No matter what unfolds, AU will keep fighting for true religious freedom buttressed by a wall of separation between church and state. As AU President and CEO Rachel Laser said, “We’ve been through a Trump administration before. It was a hard four years, but we fought back and ultimately defeated many of the harmful policies he enacted.”
Our team has a strategy for the next four years. Rachel will tell you more about that this weekend. As for now, it’s worth noting that church-state separation won some key victories last night.
Reproductive rights were on the ballot in 10 states – measures to enshrine the right to abortion passed in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and New York. A measure to overturn Florida’s 6-week ban failed, where it needed to get 60% approval but fell a few points short. Abortion rights measures also failed in South Dakota and Nebraska.
Americans United was especially pleased to see the win for reproductive rights in Missouri, where we and our allies have filed a lawsuit in state court arguing that the state’s strict abortion ban elevates one religious view over others and violates church-state separation.
Three states – Colorado, Kentucky and Nebraska – faced ballot initiatives promoting private school vouchers, and it looks like all have failed. The Kentucky initiative, which would have changed the state constitution to allow for taxpayer funding of private schools, failed with 65% voting no. The Nebraska measure repeals a state law creating a voucher program. About 58% voted to end the law. In Colorado, an initiative to add language to the state constitution aimed at paving the way for vouchers has not yet been called but appears to be failing, with 52% voting against it. (The measure needed 55% support to pass.)
These results are in line with dozens of votes since 1967 where Americans have voted against taxpayer aid to private schools. And the votes in both issues indicate that a groundswell for separation of church and state exists, something that is borne out by Americans United’s own polling.
Trump’s first term was marked by regular attacks on church-state separation, an artifact of his close ties to Christian Nationalist groups. We’re sure to see more of that next year when Trump takes office. But it’s important to remember that despite his victory, he has no mandate to undermine America’s first freedom.
Americans United will be there to defend that principle. Count on it. And join us – any contribution you can make today will allow AU to hit the ground running with the funds we need to fight back harder than ever before.
