Children’s Rights

We all have a duty to protect children from abuse. Failure to report child abuse amounts to complicity and allows the abuse to continue. All state statutes identify specific people who interact regularly with children who are required by law to report abuse. States exempting clergy from this list should remove this dangerous loophole that allows abuse to continue unseen and unheard.

Health and safety standards should be applied equally to all childcare providers, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. All carveouts and loopholes for religiously affiliated childcare providers should be removed to protect children and their families.

Given its national prominence and its impact on thousands of children across the nation, the Secular Coalition for America urges the Boy Scouts of America to remove its religious test for scouting to be more inclusive of atheist boys, girls, and their families.

Religion is never an excuse to neglect a child. Religious loopholes for medical neglect must be repealed.

When it comes to health and safety, we should always put kids first. Nonmedical vaccine exemptions are putting our children and communities at risk.