Arizona Archives - American Atheists

Arizonans: Oppose Public Funding for Deceptive Religious “Pregnancy Centers!”

American Atheists — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 19:55:23 +0000

Arizona lawmakers are considering a controversial bill (SB 1251/HB 2404) that could hand over $3 million to religious “pregnancy centers.” This bill is moving quickly, it was already passed by committees in each chamber. These fake pregnancy centers have a religious mission to prevent abortion and use deceptive marketing practices to target and lure pregnant women to facilities posing as real medical centers. State funding should not promote this religious deception. Please take action now—this bill could receive a vote in the Arizona House and Senate as soon as today! Arizona women need real health and pregnancy care, not lies and deceit. Especially during this pandemic, it is shameful that lawmakers are planning to give religious groups $3 million to undermine access to health care. The government should protect women from these religious “pregnancy centers”—not give them taxpayer dollars so that they can more easily manipulate women. Arizonans, it is absolutely crucial that you tell your state lawmakers to oppose SB 1251/HB 2404 today! Not a single tax dollar should support religious organizations that trick, harass, bully, and shame vulnerable women into foregoing health care services.

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Stop the Arizona Church Superspreader Bill!

American Atheists — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 16:15:22 +0000

Across the country, we are seeing a wave of bills to create special rights for churches to ignore public health restrictions and hold in-person gatherings. In Arizona, lawmakers are considering HB 2648, which prevents religious organizations from being subject to restrictions if any secular business or organization is exempt. For example, if hospitals are allowed to remain open, then churches must be allowed to remain open. These special privileges for religious organizations endanger the lives and health of every Arizonan. Please ask your Arizona representative to reject this harmful bill! Public health experts believe that church gatherings may be especially likely to spread COVID-19, and there is ample evidence to support this conclusion. And yet, Arizona lawmakers are considering giving churches the right to meet even if similar secular organizations are closed. This doesn’t merely affect church congregations and religious schools. These in-person gatherings can be a vector to spread COVID-19 throughout a community. Please contact your representative today. Ask them to put the lives of Arizonans before the special interests of churches.

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Arizona Residents: Oppose Public Funding for Deceptive Religious “Pregnancy Centers!”

American Atheists — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 16:31:03 +0000

Today and tomorrow, two legislative committees will hold votes on controversial bills (SB 1251/HB 2404) that could hand over $3 million to religious “pregnancy centers.” These fake pregnancy centers have a religious mission to prevent abortion and use deceptive marketing practices to target and lure pregnant women to facilities posing as real medical centers. State funding should not promote this religious deception. With these bills on a “fast track” to pass the legislature as quickly as possible, please take action now! Arizona women need real health and pregnancy care, not lies and deceit. Especially during this pandemic, it is shameful that lawmakers are planning to give religious groups $3 million to undermine access to health care. The government should protect women from these religious “pregnancy centers”—not give them taxpayer dollars so that they can more easily manipulate women. Arizonans, it is absolutely crucial that you tell your state lawmakers to oppose SB 1251/HB 2404 today! Not a single tax dollar should support religious organizations that trick, harass, bully, and shame vulnerable women into foregoing health care services.

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Arizona Lawmakers to Give Religious Extremists $3 Million to Deceive Vulnerable Women

American Atheists — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 18:12:12 +0000

Phoenix, AZ–Today, the national religious equality watchdog organization American Atheists and the Secular Coalition for Arizona spoke out against SB 1328/HB 2388, which would give $3 million to religious “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs). CPCs often locate themselves next to full service medical centers, install signs imitating those of nearby medical centers, and list themselves as abortion providers in online directories and searches, despite not actually offering full reproductive health services. “CPCs use these deceptive marketing practices to lure pregnant women into their religious facilities. Once in the door, they face harassment, bullying, and shaming,” explained Tory Roberg, Director for Government Affairs at the Secular Coalition for Arizona, who is testifying today against SB 1328. “Our state should protect women from these deceptive religious pregnancy centers—not give them taxpayer dollars to harm women.” Multiple organizations, including the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) and the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NAPSAG), have condemned CPCs’ failure to meet medical and ethical standards. A 2018 article in the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics also called the CPCs unethical. “Because the religious ideology of these centers’ owners and employees takes priority over the health and well-being of the women seeking care at these centers, women do not receive comprehensive, accurate, evidence-based clinical information about all available options,” wrote the authors. “Arizona women need real health and pregnancy care,” said Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy at American Atheists. “Not a single tax dollar should fund deceptive organizations that try to prevent women from accessing the health care services they need.” “Lawmakers should put the health and safety of Arizona women first,” said Nick Fish, president of American Atheists. “It’s unconscionable that they seem to be more interested in doing the bidding of their extremist backers at the Center for Arizona Policy than protecting the well-being of their constituents.”

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American Atheists to Take Over Phoenix on Easter Weekend 2020

American Atheists — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 15:29:58 +0000

We’re excited to announce the location for our 2020 National Convention: sunny Phoenix, Arizona. From April 9–12, hundreds of atheists will descend on Arizona’s capital for a long weekend chock full of presentations, comedy and game nights, workshops, exhibits, and social and community events—making it the conference you don’t want to miss! Bringing together speakers with stories that haven’t been heard before, rising stars within our community, and unique perspectives on the most important issues of our day, the American Atheists National Convention offers one of the most diverse speaker lineups of any convention in our community. In 2018, “Dr. House” star Hugh Laurie gave the keynote speech at our convention, and this year Jim Obergefell, the LGBTQ activist behind marriage equality, came out for the second time⁠—as an atheist. But those aren’t the only people we want to hear from! Starting now, you can submit an application to give a plenary talk, present a panel discussion, lead a training workshop, or provide entertainment. The deadline for proposals is midnight on October 30, 2019. Speakers on a wide range of topics, as well as comedians, musicians, artists, poets, and other performers are all encouraged to apply. Rooms at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix are also now available at a discounted rate. In previous years, rooms have sold out more than two months before the event. Book early to ensure availability! See you in Phoenix!

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Atheist Billboard Campaign Exposes $1 Million Taxpayer Giveaway to Anti-LGBTQ Hate Group

American Atheists — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 15:30:12 +0000

Phoenix, AZ—Arizona’s “In God We Trust” license plates have generated $1 million for the anti-LGBTQ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) since 2012, American Atheists and the Secular Coalition for Arizona (Secular AZ) revealed today. In response, American Atheists and Secular AZ have launched a billboard campaign to raise awareness about ADF and how Arizona is funneling money to fund this hate group. The billboard, paid for by American Atheists, will appear in three locations in the Phoenix metro area until March. It displays an Arizona “In God We Trust” license plate with the number “ADF-H8.” The billboard raises the question, “Is Your License Plate Funding Hate?” and directs the viewer to visit LicensePlateHate.org for more information. American Atheists and Secular AZ will present the billboard and take questions at a press conference on Monday February 11, 2019, 9:00am to 9:30am in the Arizona Capitol’s Rose Garden. ADF, a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group, is a leading voice in developing and advocating legislation that denies LGBTQ people access to public accommodations and has defended LGBTQ discrimination at the Supreme Court and international institutions. “Public awareness about ADF’s hate-inspired schemes is thankfully on the rise. However, few people realize that the license plate law funding ADF fits into a larger, dangerous Christian nationalist legislative campaign called Project Blitz,” said Nick Fish, president of American Atheists, the national atheist organization building opposition to Project Blitz with its BlitzWatch.org campaign. “Project Blitz pushes seemingly innocuous bills similar to Arizona’s ‘In God We Trust’ license plate law in the hopes of building enough momentum to pass anti-equality legislation. However, Arizona’s law, which predates Project Blitz, is the first law we’ve seen that directly funds a hate group like ADF,” added Fish. “What’s even worse about the Arizona license plates is that there is absolutely no disclosure about where the money goes when drivers purchase these specialty plates,” said Tory Roberg, the director of government affairs for Secular AZ, an advocacy organization working to raise public awareness about license plate dollars going to ADF. The Arizona laws establishing the “In God We Trust” license plates do not inform Arizonans that the $17 speciality plate fee is donated to ADF. On Monday, February 4, Arizona state Senator Juan Mendez introduced two bills to address the state’s funding of ADF and the lack of transparency surrounding these plates. SB 1462 would ensure transparency by requiring the Department of Transportation to maintain a database with the name and mission of each entity receiving funds from specialty plates. Any driver selecting a specialty plate would receive information on their registration receipt about the entity funded by their selected plate. SB 1463 would no longer include the “In God We Trust” specialty plate among those that can funnel money to a organization, cutting off donations to ADF. “We need some reasonable criteria for which organizations the state sends money to, and I think a pretty legitimate starting point is that we shouldn’t include hate groups. It’s inexcusable that we’ve already sent a million dollars to an organization that’s stripping rights from LGBTQ people,” said Mendez. More information about the […]

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