News & Commentary

America is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world. Our freedom to believe (or not believe) is protected by the Constitution. One of the ways we guard religious freedom is by making sure that public schools – which are part of and representatives of our government – neither advance or inhibit religion.House Bill 130 – Education-elective academic Bible study is a bill that states that a Wyoming school district may offer an elective course on the Old Testament and the New Testament for students in 9th grade or above. This course would be an academic course that is supposed to teach knowledge of the Bible.We believe that this bill is another example of the Wyoming legislators pushing for legislation that is a solution looking for a problem. HB130 is completely unnecessary, and is potentially unconstitutional under the Wyoming Constitution. We believe that religious education is best left to parents and their children, not public school officials.HB130 brings up a whole host of questions and concerns, such as:• Which translation of the Bible will be used?• What academic qualifications must teachers obtain before they can become “accredited” instructors of the Bible under this proposal?• How will school districts ensure teachers’ objectivity and unbiased instruction of the Bible? • Will it open school districts up for lawsuits?Unfortunately, HB130 passed out of the Senate Education Committee this morning and will go to the entire Wyoming Senate for debate. If you believe that religious education is best left to parents and houses of worship, not public schools, WE NEED YOUR HELP TO DEFEAT HB130!Please contact your Senator to let them know you oppose HB130. You may also vocalize your opposition to HB130 at the online voter hotline or by calling the telephone hotline -- 1-866-996-8683 (or 307-777-8683 for local callers within the Cheyenne area). The telephone hotline is staffed only when the Legislature is in session, approximately 8:00-5:00 Monday-Friday.Remember, individuals have the right to express religious beliefs; public schools do not. 

The ACLU of Wyoming keeps you updated on bills that impact civil liberties in Wyoming during the 2013 legislative session. The session is moving fast! We're halfway through the session, and Monday was the last day for bills in the Committee of the Whole in the house of origin. Yesterday the last day for second reading in the house of origin, and today is the last day for third reading in the house of origin.While we have enjoyed legislative victories already this year – defeating two anti-choice bills and gaining traction on a bill to extend voting rights to non-violent felons – we had two very disappointing loses last week on bills which would have gone a long way in granting equal rights to Wyoming’s LGBT community. SF131 Discrimination proposed to make discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity illegal, and was defeated in the Senate 13 – 17. HB168 Domestic Partnerships failed to pass the House by a vote of 25 – 34. HB168 sought to extend legal rights and responsibilities to domestic partnerships. Despite these losses, these bills had considerable support in each chamber and went further in the legislative process than in years past. We’re encouraged by this trend and will continue to support pro-LGBT proposals in the future. We love hearing from our supporters, so please share any information or comments you might have about these bills so we can keep our information up-to-date. Learn more about how to participate in the legislative process. If we have missed any bills you think we should be following, please send us an email.

Forty years ago today, the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that recognized that a pregnant woman has a right to make her own decision about whether to have a child or have an abortion. Since then, some politicians have been trying to take that decision out of a woman’s hands. Over the past two years, these efforts have reached record levels. In those two short years, our elected representatives found the time to pass almost 140 provisions designed to interfere with a woman and her family’s private decisions about whether or not to have children. Of course, we don’t all feel the same way about abortion. But we should be able to agree that important decisions like these are better made by a woman, her family, and her doctor than by politicians.Indeed, the American people have shown they don't want politicians to interfere in personal, private decision-making. This year, across the country, people came together to speak out against reproductive restrictions and those who pushed them. In states like Virginia, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Idaho, women and men took time out of their busy lives to go to their state capitols and tell their representatives to leave these decisions where they belong: with a woman, her family, and her doctor. And these folks aren’t just talking, they are voting. Recently, voters in states as diverse as Mississippi and Colorado, Florida, and North Dakota all rejected ballot measures that would have interfered with a woman’s ability to make her own decisions about pregnancy. Politicians with extreme views on the right to choose whether to have an abortion lost at the polls. In fact, Americans are so fed up with politicians trying to interfere with a woman’s private health care decision, that a Gallup poll found that 39 percent of women in 12 battleground states said abortion was the most important issue for women in the election. Incredibly, however, some politicians still haven’t gotten the message. For example, over the last two years, some politicians in the U.S. House of Representatives tried to change the definition of rape; several states passed laws mandating that a woman undergo an ultrasound and be forced to see an image before she can have an abortion; and politicians tried to give employers the right to deny a woman insurance coverage for birth control. Even some Wyoming legislators are still determined to take away a woman’s ability to make her own decisions about birth control, pregnancy, and abortion. Two legislative measures being debated in the Wyoming legislature would effectively ban almost all abortion services in Wyoming. Both HB97 and SF88 violate provisions upheld in Roe v. Wade, and amount to nothing more than governmental interference into private medical decisions of Wyoming women and their families.  These attacks at the state and federal level notwithstanding, we must keep in mind two important lessons that we learned this year. First, however each of us personally feels about abortion, Americans have had enough of politicians trying to take that decision away from women and their families. Second, if we continue to speak out, we can stem this tide. We can stop politicians from interfering in a woman’s private health care decisions. So this year, when legislators in Cheyenne try to push restrictions on reproductive health care for Wyoming women, we must stand together and them realize just how out-of-touch and out-of-date they are. 

The 62nd Wyoming Legislature is in full swing, and things are moving quickly. The first week saw over 250 bills filed, with many more expected to come. While this session brought in a whole new class of law makers, we continue to have the same types of proposed legislation that we’ve seen over the past few years. For example, both HB97 & SF88 are extreme measures that would inject the State into women’s private medical decision, and effectively ban abortions in Wyoming. We intend to fight against these bills as they move through the legislative process, but remember that it’s very important for your legislators to hear from you! Learn how to participate during the legislative session.We were thrilled to learn that Rep. Connolly (D–Laramie), along with several other sponsors, filed a marriage equality bill. We strongly support any pro-LGBT legislation! In addition, Rep. Connolly drafted an excellent bill that would extend significant benefits to domestic partnerships and same-sex couples. Like in years past, we will advocate for laws that safeguard our civil liberties and fights against bills that threaten our freedoms. We will track any bills that impact civil liberties in Wyoming. Stay tuned to our blog throughout the session for continuous updates on bills we’re monitoring.