Church & State
Religious Liberty at the Court in 2025
Can the state limit parental rights or define religion? The Court strengthens protections for faith in key rulings.
Anna Bryner
August 25, 2025
Can the state limit parental rights or define religion? The Court strengthens protections for faith in key rulings.
Should judges defy the president for the Constitution? True fidelity means law over personal allegiance.
Do therapy bans protect minors? Overbroad definitions risk punishing therapists for supporting client choice.
Does 303 Creative v. Elenis permit discrimination? The Supreme Court’s ruling navigates a complex intersection of free speech and Public Accommodation Laws, ultimately shielding expressive activities while leaving open important questions of anti-discrimination law for we the people to debate.
Qualified immunity arose so that police wouldn’t have to guess what the Supreme Court would find unconstitutional. But it has grown far beyond that today.
Far from violating basic constitutional freedoms, the recent abortion ruling at the U.S Supreme Court powerfully reinstituted crucial and inspired principles designed for the protection of “all flesh.”
Outlining a road map for addressing gun violence. A policy window is open—let’s grab it!
This week Fr. Thomas Reese called on US Catholic bishops to start supporting the Democratic party if they do end up victorious on the issue of abortion. Reese argues that while ending abortion is an important priority for these bishops, once that goal has been passed they may find themselves more generally aligned with Democrats. Reese’s article got me thinking about how a major change in abortion law may affect Latter-day Saints’ political leanings. This will likely depend in part on how abortion law is settled. Whether a national legislative compromise can be reached or it does go to the states. But if the Supreme Court rules in Dobbs that there is no constitutional right to an abortion and the matter returns to the states, we may see Latter-day Saints shift significantly. There are currently ten states that, in this scenario, would outlaw abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. While the Church’s position emphasizes opposition to elective abortion for convenience, it does allow exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest. To be clear, the Church itself does not favor or oppose specific legislative proposals. And yet if the large question on abortion shifts from whether or not elective abortion should be legal to whether or not there should be exceptions to allow abortion for rape or incest, Latter-day Saints may find their sympathies on the opposite side of the abortion debate. Just as not all Latter-day Saints today advocate that the law match the Church’s position today, some Latter-day Saints might argue that while the Church’s position is for the whole world, not every country needs to allow those exceptions. So I certainly don’t mean to suggest that every Latter-day Saint must shift, but it’s certainly worth noting as a potential future trend.
Although the final draft is uncertain, the leaked Supreme Court majority opinion can be celebrated as a step towards a culture celebrating all life—both the precious unborn and the equally precious mothers who need all of our support.
The big news today, of course, is the draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the case Roe v. Wade which first created a right to abortion in US law. An important caveat about this leak is that even if the ruling comes out precisely as is, it would not outlaw abortion in the United States. Rather the decision would return to legislatures. Roe v. Wade created a massive wound in our nation because it didn’t allow for finding the kind of compromise that we could live with as a nation together. And it has resulted in some pro-lifers seeking legal approaches that could have catastrophic long-term consequences for all civil rights, such as Texas’ new abortion law. This decision opens the door for compromises that would avoid these extreme legal approaches. Many of us pray that if this ruling comes out legislatures in D.C. and around the country see it as an opportunity to build a more durable consensus. Currently, the United States has some of the most permissive abortion laws in the western world, despite its citizens being much more conservative on the issue. As opposed to the President who stated he believes the opinion is “radical,” this could prove to be an opportunity to end our radical abortion laws and find a moderate approach in line with other similar countries. It might be tempting for those on both sides of the issue to double down on their positions in light of a ruling like this. Legislatures, however, have the opportunity now to build a compromise that can help heal this divisive issue.
I heard the news about the likely Supreme Court decision to end Roe the same day I witnessed the ultrasound of our new baby.
President Biden has promised to nominate a black woman to the Supreme court. We look at three likely nominees’ stand on religious liberty.