February 5, 2015
The United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Representative,
We, the undersigned, represent national and local religious institutions and organizations
and pro-life advocacy organizations, all of which have offices in the District of Columbia,
that serve and speak on behalf of millions of people across the United States.
Most of us do not engage in the city’s legislative affairs, but we must do so now with one
voice against two recently enacted laws that are unprecedented assaults upon our
organizations. Both laws violate the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom
of association protected by the First Amendment and other federal law.
The Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014 prevents
religious institutions, other faith-based employers, and pro-life advocacy organizations
from making employment decisions consistent with their sincerely held religious beliefs
or their moral and ethical views about the sanctity of human life. For example, the law
requires our organizations to hire or retain individuals whose speech or public conduct
contradicts the organizations’ missions, and could be read to require our organizations to
subsidize elective abortions through their employee health plans. The law plainly
violates the First Amendment, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993
(RFRA), and possibly other federal laws and clearly contradicts the Supreme Court’s
recent, unanimous ruling in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Church and School v. EEOC.1
The law would also infringe the right of expressive association for both religious and
non-religious pro-life nonprofit organizations. New emergency and temporary legislation
proposed by the Council of the District of Columbia may address constitutional
deficiencies with regard to insurance coverage if the measures are enacted, but the
measures fail to resolve the “serious concerns under the Constitution and under the
Religious Freedom Restoration Act” that the outgoing Mayor and D.C. Office of the
Attorney General have acknowledged. 2 Defending this law would be a waste of federal
and local taxpayer funds.
The Human Rights Amendment Act of 2014 requires religiously affiliated educational
institutions to endorse, sponsor, and provide school resources to persons or groups that
oppose the institutions’ religious teachings regarding human sexuality. In doing so, the
law violates the First Amendment and RFRA on similar grounds. 3

1

See Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 565
U.S. ___ (2012) (government may not interfere in religious organizations’ employment decisions regarding employees
in ministerial positions); see also, e.g., Boy Scouts of America et al v. Dale, 530 U.S. 661 (2000) (right of expressive
association permits private organizations to limit membership in a manner designed to uphold the organizations’
beliefs).
2
Letter from Mayor Vincent C. Gray to the D.C. Council, dated December 17, 2014; see also Letter from Mayor
Vincent C. Gray to the D.C. Council, dated December 2, 2014.
3
See, e.g., Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc., 515 U.S. 557 (1995) (government
mandate to include gay and lesbian individuals in private parade violated organization’s right of free speech);

 Justices Alito and Kagan wrote in their concurrence in Hosanna-Tabor that “it is easy to
forget that the autonomy of religious groups… has often served as a shield against
oppressive civil laws.” While we will continue to serve the city and the nation, we cannot
surrender the constitutional freedoms that the Framers of the U.S. Constitution rightly
reserved to all of us.
Therefore we respectfully request that you disapprove both the Reproductive Health NonDiscrimination Amendment Act of 2014 and Human Rights Amendment Act of 2014
during the congressional review period. Please take this opportunity to stand for religious
freedom and freedom of conscience.
We thank you for your help in this important and urgent matter.

Sincerely,
Casey Mattox
Senior Counsel
Alliance Defending Freedom
Colby M. May
Senior Counsel
American Center for Law & Justice
John L. Schlageter, Esq.
General Counsel
Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA
Cynthia DeSimone Weiler
Chancellor and General Counsel
Archdiocese of Washington
John Garvey
President
The Catholic University of America
Penny Nance
CEO & President
Concerned Women for America
Phyllis Schlafly
Chairman
Eagle Forum

Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith, 494 U. S. 872, 882 (1990) (noting that the
constitutional interest in freedom of association may be “reinforced by Free Exercise Clause concerns”).

 Dr. Russell Moore
President
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Southern Baptist Convention
David Christensen
Vice President of Government Affairs
Family Research Council
Michael A. Needham
CEO
Heritage Action for America
Carl Anderson
Supreme Knight
Knights of Columbus
Jeanne Monahan
President
March for Life Education and Defense Fund
Leith Anderson
President
National Association of Evangelicals
Brian Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage
Anthony R. Picarello, Jr.
Associate General Secretary & General Counsel
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops