Washington D.C. — After several weeks of voting, the award for “Worst State Bill ” violating the separation of religion and government has been given to Texas House Bill 3326, which would allow a person who has an abortion or performs an abortion to be charged with assault or homicide, a crime punishable by death in the state of Texas.
The survey was conducted by the Secular Coalition for America through email and social media as a part of its Bad Bill Madness campaign, a parody of the popular college basketball tournament. The survey placed 16 bills from different states into brackets and asked respondents to vote on which most violated the separation of religion and government. The roster featured bills covering a wide range of issues including reproductive rights, religious refusal laws, the teaching of creationism in public schools, and LGBTQ+ rights. The final round concluded today and the Texas bill was officially declared the winner. Under the guise of “anti-discrimination” and a “pro-life” ethos, the bill would produce discriminatory and life ending results for healthcare providers and recipients.
Although HB 3326 won the title of “Worst State Bill” it’s worth noting that it is only one of many from a recent wave of legislation designed to undermine reproductive rights, healthcare, science, and civil rights. Similar bills were introduced in Arkansas, Montana, and Kansas. Other contenders this year included Georgia’s HB 457, which actually suggests a Christian prayer to be used in public classrooms and Arkansas’ SB 289, which would allow doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, and even insurance companies and employers to cite religious beliefs to deny patients necessary care during a scheduled visit or during an emergency. The latter, while not taking home the “prize”, did make it to the Final Round and was actually signed into law over course of our campaign so we have decided to name it MVB (Most Vile Bill) of the season.
“This campaign is an opportunity to shine a light on the attacks against our secular government that are occurring at the state level,” said Casey Brinck, Director of Policy and Government Affairs, “Our goal is to inspire activism through education. Lawmakers know that their attempts to impose religious privilege are largely unpopular and success depends on pushing these bills through quietly. The Secular Coalition for America and its supporters will not allow this to happen. The Bad Bill Madness campaign is one of the ways we’re sounding the alarm.”
The Secular Coalition for America is calling on its supporters and allies in the state of Texas to take action against HB 3326 by contacting your local state representative and urging them to oppose this anti-life legislation.
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Contact: Andrew McCarty Grossen, Communications Manager, [email protected]
The Secular Coalition for America is the nation’s premier advocacy organization representing atheists, humanists, agnostics, and other nontheists. Its mission is to increase the visibility of and respect for nontheistic viewpoints in the United States, and to protect and strengthen the secular character of our government as the best guarantee of freedom for all. The Secular Coalition represents 19 voting member organizations.
