Reclaiming Religious Freedom Means Protecting Reproductive Freedom

Across the country, politicians are using religion to dictate who gets health care — and who doesn’t. Religious freedom is being distorted and weaponized across multiple levels of government and through our courts to justify abortion bans and restrictions on reproductive health care. This framework is used to strip millions of people of the right to make deeply personal medical decisions guided by their own beliefs.

That contradiction is especially stark as we observe Religious Freedom Day, which commemorates a promise at the heart of American democracy: that no one’s religious beliefs should be imposed on anyone else. Enshrined in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786 and later reflected in the First Amendment, this principle affirms every person’s right to live according to their own conscience — or not practice religion at all — without government interference.

Yet today, and as we march toward America’s semiquincentennial, that promise feels both urgent and unfinished.

Abortion bans and restrictions on health care do more than undermine our ability to make our own medical decisions, they violate religious freedom itself. When lawmakers impose one narrow theological belief on everyone of when life begins, they trample the very constitutional protections that are meant to safeguard our pluralistic society.

The reality is, people of faith are not a monolith — and they do not overwhelmingly support restrictions on reproductive healthcare, including abortion care. In 2024, new multifaith research conducted by the Faithful Majority for Reproductive Freedom found that nearly 70% of Americans across faith traditions believe restrictions on reproductive health care violate people’s First Amendment rights to maintain their own personal and religious beliefs. Far from rejecting reproductive freedom, many see it as deeply connected to their moral values, spiritual teachings, and faith-inspired commitments to dignity and compassion.

This reality stands in stark contrast to the narrative advanced by a vocal minority that claims religious authority while denying others the right to follow their own beliefs. That narrative has dominated public discourse for too long, obscuring the fact that abortion bans are not expressions of religious freedom — they are violations of it.

For instance, in Jewish communities, the connection between religious and reproductive freedom is clear. Jewish texts and tradition prioritizes the health and well-being of the woman, sometimes even requiring abortion care if the patient’s life is in danger. In Kentucky, a Jewish woman is challenging the state’s abortion ban, as it has impacted her ability to move forward with growing her family using in vitro fertilization. This is a stark example of how these laws collide with religious practice itself.

This moment has made visible what many people of faith have long known: the loudest voices do not represent the majority. That’s why faith leaders, advocates, and communities across traditions have reached new visibility with the 2025 launch of Faithful Majority for Reproductive Freedom, a national interfaith coalition committed to reclaiming the narrative on faith and reproductive freedom. We are coming together across the country to say what should be obvious: true religious freedom protects all of us — not just the loudest or most extreme voices.

Religious Freedom Day should be more than a commemoration of a historic statute. It should be a day when we all recommit to its meaning, by speaking out, learning together, and working to change the narrative on what religious freedom really means. True religious freedom means trusting individuals to make deeply personal decisions guided by their own beliefs, values, and circumstances. It means rejecting the idea that the government should act as a theological authority. And it means speaking out against efforts to force any of us to live under a single religious doctrine.

Reclaiming religious freedom requires moral clarity and courage. It calls on people of faith — and people of conscience — to speak out not despite our beliefs, but because of them. When we do, we strengthen our democracy and move closer to a future where reproductive freedom, religious freedom, and human dignity are protected for everyone.