{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/conyers-and-cohen-trump-administration-conflates-religious-liberty-right", "CONYERS AND COHEN: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CONFLATES RELIGIOUS LIBERTY WITH THE RIGHT TO DISCRIMINATE IN LATEST TROUBLING ACTIONS", "2017-10-06", "2017", "2017-10", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Steve Cohen", "C001068", "cohen.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN) issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration\u2019s issuance of two deeply troubling documents:\n  \n\t(1) sweeping regulations by the Department of Health and Human Services that attack women\u2019s healthcare by allowing any employer to deny their employees contraceptive coverage based on a religious or moral objection despite the Affordable Care Act\u2019s contraceptive coverage mandate and (2) a Department of Justice legal guidance memorandum to federal departments and agencies interpreting the scope of protection for religious liberty so broadly as to potentially undermine civil rights protections for LGBTQ persons, all under the guise of \u201cprotecting\u201d religious liberty: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cProtecting religious freedom does not include creating a right to harm or discriminate against others.\u00a0 The Trump Administration, unfortunately, has chosen to use the protection of religious liberty as a justification to take away women\u2019s access to contraceptive care and to undermine the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.\u00a0The Administration\u2019s actions today would allow corporations, whether publicly-traded or closely-held, \u00a0to deny essential health coverage for women and allow entities receiving federal funds to engage in invidious discrimination against people based on their gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity, among other bases. \u00a0\u00a0\n\u201cUnder the legal guidance memorandum issued today by the Department of Justice, an entity receiving federal funds could be permitted to discriminate against LGBTQ persons for example, by denying the opportunity to adopt a child, declining to process spousal or survivor benefits, or refusing to provide any other service they would ordinarily provide.\u00a0 None of these actions \u2018protect\u2019 religious liberty but, rather, warp the concept to create a right to discriminate. \n\u201cIn a week in which the Republican-controlled House passed an unconstitutional and dangerous 20-week abortion ban bill, the Trump Administration\u2019s new HHS rules would further limit women\u2019s access to essential healthcare services. The new rules also undercut the Affordable Care Act\u2019s contraceptive coverage mandate by expanding the list of entities eligible to claim a religious objection to providing such coverage.\u00a0 The list of covered entities will now even include for-profit, publically traded companies like Wal-Mart, who could claim a \u2018moral objection\u2019 to providing their female employees access to \u00a0essential healthcare services. This is a policy that goes even further than the extreme position taken by the Supreme Court in its 2014 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.\n\u201cPresident Trump views civil rights as just another political wedge issue, and his promotion of \u2018religious liberty\u2019 as a shield for discrimination will only further divide this country.\u00a0 We will continue to fight for the rights of all Americans to be free from discrimination regardless of gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://cohen.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/conyers-and-cohen-trump-administration-conflates-religious-liberty-right"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1436641216278076, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}