FFRF Action Fund is focusing on two distinctly opposite acts this week.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s legislative arm is naming U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer our “Secularist of the Week” for accurately labeling crisis pregnancy centers as “brainwashing cult clinics.” Meanwhile, Pennsylvania state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz has earned the title of “Theocrat of the Week” for shamefully invoking the bible in opposing climate change mitigation.
Standing in front of the Lighthouse Pregnancy Center in Hackensack, N.J., Gottheimer called out the center, and those like it, for deceptive practices. The member of Congress did not mince words, saying, “The Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center appears harmless. But it’s actually one of many deceptive brainwashing cult clinics across our state and country, known as crisis pregnancy centers. We need to do everything we can to shut down these brainwashing cult clinics.” Gottheimer is spot on.
FFRF has long sounded the alarm to warn the public of crisis pregnancy centers. Although posing as bonafide abortion clinics, they seek through deception or coercion to influence vulnerable women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, telling them boldfaced lies about abortion risks and regrets they will have about taking control of their own bodies. The FFRF Action Fund is deeply appreciative of Gottheimer for taking a stand and publicly denouncing these centers, which often receive huge infusions of tax dollars.
This week’s “Theocrat of the Week” made remarks so ridiculous that she took Twitter by storm — but not in a good way. Pennsylvania state Rep. Stephanie Borowicz’s comments during a hearing about climate change legislation caught social media attention for all the wrong reasons. During a recent committee debate, Borowicz cited Genesis 8:22 as “proof” that climate change is not real. Ignorant of, or immune to, the laugh that reasoned people are having at her expense, she proudly posted the video of her dissent to her Twitter page with the caption: “Speaking out Against the Climate Control Global Agenda.”
Borowicz is not alone in her climate denial. In fact, she’s in quite crowded company among her Christian nationalist comrades. The FFRF Action Fund has previously highlighted the misguided views of Christian nationalists on climate change. Even in the wake of some of the hottest summer months in history, the religion-based Heritage Foundation has launched a plan to dismantle efforts to mitigate global warming.
“I’m thrilled to see a member of Congress calling out the dubious practices of crisis pregnancy centers,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF Action Fund president. “These centers have caused so much harm. On the other hand, it’s maddening to witness the impediment of real progress stifled by a member of a state legislature who chooses words from a fictional book over actual science.”
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues. FFRF Action Fund serves as the advocacy arm of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which has more than 40,000 members and works to keep religion out of government and educate the public about nontheism.
