FFRF Action Fund’s “Secularist of the Week” is California’s governor for taking proactive action against the incoming Trump administration and its Christian nationalism. The governor is committed to making California a leader in the resistance against Donald Trump’s second term.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently called the state Legislature to a special session beginning Dec. 2. The special session’s agenda will address reproductive freedoms, immigration, climate policies and natural disaster response. Newsom’s announcement reads: “The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle.”
The separate session will focus on preserving essential freedoms, like reproductive autonomy. It will explore expanding funding for the state’s Department of Justice so litigation will be ready when the Trump administration starts encroaching on Californians’ rights.
Newsom’s announcement detailed the different attacks the Trump administration could commit, including an “assault on reproductive freedoms by limiting access to medication abortion, expanding conscience objections for employers and providers, and pursuing a national abortion ban” and “withholding disaster response funding and individual assistance for victims of disasters as political retribution.” Trump has repeatedly threatened California’s emergency aid, and Newsom is taking the threats seriously.
Newsom was in D.C. this week to lobby the outgoing Biden-Harris administration in funding decisions and federal waiver extensions before Trump retakes office. Newsom has pledged that the state is ready to challenge Trump, including against Trump’s promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. The state is also committed to protecting its LGBTQ-plus citizens.
California filed more than 100 lawsuits against Trump during his first term.
Despite his staunch Catholic faith, the governor has long protected the separation of state and church. During the coronavirus outbreak, California limited and banned in-person church assemblies in the state’s hardest-hit areas to preserve public health. When the issue was turned to the courts, a federal judge ruled that the governor had the right to ban church assemblies in the interest of public health. (The conservative-stacked Supreme Court later ruled against California’s ban.)
We thank Newsom for his dedication to preserving Californian’s rights and countering whatever a second Trump administration will bring. Newsom is a stellar ally as we fight to uphold the separation of state and church and our secular democracy.
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