Religious Liberty Commission to Discuss
Issues in Healthcare and Social Services
The Religious Liberty Commission is turning its focus to issues arising in healthcare, as well as humanitarian and social services. The sixth hearing is scheduled for Monday, March 16.
Our client Valerie Kloosterman will testify and share her story. Valerie is an experienced physician assistant who was fired by University of Michigan Health for seeking a religious accommodation from being required to affirm statements about gender that violated her religious beliefs. Her case is pending in federal district court.
First Liberty President and CEO Kelly Shackelford serves as a Commissioner. He represents the only nonprofit religious liberty legal organization on the Commission.
The hearing will be held at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. The session will be livestreamed at 8:30 a.m. EST and is expected to last until 2:30 p.m. You can watch it on the Department of Justice website.
U.S. Supreme Court Rules Parents Have the Right
to Direct Upbringing of Their Children
The nation’s highest court recently delivered a big win for parental rights and religious freedom. In Mirabelli v. Bonta, the Supreme Court ruled that California cannot hide children’s gender transitions from parents.
In a 6-3 ruling, the Court held that a California school district’s policy directing teachers to hide students’ gender transitions likely violates the religious liberty and due process rights of parents. Put simply, this means that California public schools cannot hide information about gender transitions because parents have a constitutional right to raise their children as they see fit, including raising them in accordance with their religious beliefs.
While this wasn’t a ruling on the merits of the case, it is still an important win for religious parents.
Counsel Holly M. Randall explains how the ruling impacts our case for the Encinas family, who was told by a school district they could not opt their children out of books promoting radical gender ideology. We continue to fight their case in federal court.
Watch below:
First Liberty Attorney Testifies Before Tennessee Legislature
Senior Counsel Nate Kellum recently testified to the Tennessee Legislature in support of a bill allowing school districts to display the Ten Commandments in schools.
The bill allows for a display of the Decalogue alongside other foundational documents like the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution
“The Ten Commandments have been an essential part of the history and tradition of our country from the very beginning,” Kellum told the committee. “In numerous important decisions, the Supreme Court has explained the Ten Commandments ‘have an undeniable historical meaning,’ including ‘historical significance as one of the foundations of our legal system.’”
“Public displays of the Ten Commandments occupy prominent places in America’s civic and moral tradition,” Kellum continued, “from their depiction in the Supreme Court’s own marble friezes to monuments and displays at state capitols and local courthouses. The Decalougue should be allowed in public schools as well.”
State legislators are also deliberating on several other bills to teach the Bible as literature, provide dedicated time for students and staff to pray, and allow for opening prayers at schoolboard meetings.
Canceled for Her Conscience
Valerie Kloosterman worked for her local health care clinic for 17 years and is the third generation in her family to work in the health care system. She was committed to giving the best possible care to all her patients and treated them all respectfully.
But after University of Michigan Health acquired her clinic, she asked for a religious accommodation from being required to affirm statements about gender that violated her religious beliefs, she was fired.
Valerie has been fighting in court since 2022. We’re litigating her case in federal court, and she’s is counting on you to stand with her.
Your support is essential in delivering a win for Valerie—and for so many Americans who are singled out for their faith in the workplace. This case could set a precedent that protects religious employees across the country.
Please give to First Liberty today.
Leading The Conversation | First Liberty in the News
Opinion: Can Schools Make Room for Prayer Without Pushing Faith? – Associate Counsel Holly M. Randall in the Austin American-Statesman
Opinion: What Adam Smith Wrought – Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy Executive Director Jordan Ballor in WORLD
Podcast: For God and Country: How Religious Pluralism Shaped the American Founding – Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy Fellow James Patterson in This Constitution Podcast
Nashville Teacher Has Record Cleared After Refusing to Read Same-Sex Marriage Book to First-Graders – Fox News
City Changes Noise Rule After Pro-Life Advocate’s Lawsuit – WORLD
Interfaith Coalition Backs Bill to Protect Worship Services in California – The Christian Post
Creating Bridges Across Generations
by David K. Holmes, Exec. Vice President & Chief Legacy Officer
Something small and very dense once started something big, very big. It’s called the Biblical Creation, as in Psalm 148:5, “For He commanded and they were created”.
As the universe expands at an accelerating rate—stretching the fabric of space itself faster than light can cross it—the implications for time and connection come to mind. Black holes (events that occur when a massive star collapses upon itself) indicate that gravity is the curvature of spacetime, according to Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
Further, in theoretical physics, “quantum entanglement” reveals that particles can remain in a single non-separable state, instantly correlated regardless of the vast distances that separate them—two non-communicating particles, but still described as a unified state, essentially the same “one thing.” While this link cannot transmit a signal, it suggests a profound, underlying unity—a “spooky action at a distance”, to quote Einstein. Theoretical physics at its best.
I like connecting different threads of knowledge together to reach a deeper level of commonality, understanding and unity. All of this reminds me of the generational impact gained from legacy giving. The giving that resounds through the ages, regardless of the time and distance from the giving event that was created at the beginning. The family is linked through time, a persistence of “common origin,” just like the particles above.
But unlike particles that cannot communicate with each other, a family preserves its connection through active governance and shared religious values. Using trusts, foundations, and other education and transparency tools, you create a bridge across generations—ensuring that even as time separates them, the family remains not just linked by origin, but united in purpose.
And for people of faith, that unity is in their faith itself.
To learn more about legacy planning and how it can connect the future to the present, please give me a call.
Please remember the easiest way to build a family legacy of religious liberty is by remembering First Liberty in your will. We have a $3 million Will Challenge underway, and all you have to do to help us is name us as a beneficiary.
By the way, did you know that the SECURE ACT 2.0 gives you the ability to use a one-time contribution of your QCD to a charitable remainder trust or charitable gift annuity, as long as certain constraints and limitations are met?
Please go to http://www.firstlibertylegacy.org/ to sign up for this newsletter, and email us at david.holmes@firstliberty.org to let me know about your will intentions.
Remember, we hope to get $3 million in will commitments by the end of March! Your intentions are not legally binding; it just gives us a notion of how much funding is out there, in deep space, so to speak!
Thank you for your continued support!
Please visit www.firstlibertylegacy.org to learn more about legacy-planning ideas.
Editors’ Picks | Stories Around the Nation
What James Madison Can Teach Americans About Religious Freedom Today – The Conversation
Gen Z Turns Back to Faith as NYC Church Sees Packed Masses – Fox News
Lessons for Subduing the Oldest Hatred – National Review
Holy See: Christians Are Most Persecuted Religious Community in the World – Vatican News
Evangelical Leaders Return to Oval Office to Pray Over Trump – Baptist News
Opinion: Stop Calling the United States a Secular State – Townhall
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