Pelosi Statement on Religious Bias Executive Order

May 4, 2017

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement after President Trump signed an executive order that could permit denial of women's preventive services, such as contraception, well-women exams, and cervical cancer screenings that are mandated by the Affordable Care Act, and directing the IRS to stop enforcing the law regarding political speech by tax-exempt religious organizations:

"Instead of protecting the religious beliefs of patients and workers, President Trump is helping employers and health providers to force their beliefs onto others. Doctors should be bound to provide the best care to their patients. Employers shouldn't be meddling in the intimate reproductive health decisions of their workers, or be allowed to choke off women's access to preventive treatment or care.

"The order is also a brazen effort to create a vast new loophole in campaign finance law. Tax-exempt organizations, whether religious or otherwise, should not be using their indulgence from paying taxes to fund blatantly political acts. President Trump's executive order is an open invitation to ignore our already abused campaign finance laws.

"While the President's executive order claims to serve religious liberty, in practice, it is a license for a few to violate the rights and freedoms of everyone else."