Secular Government

State Policy

We’re taking the fight to all fifty states — working to pass laws that advance equality and stop policies that threaten our rights.

We don’t just wait for laws to pass — we work to shape them from day one.

The fight for the future of our democracy is happening in the states. While Washington, D.C. is mired in gridlock, state legislatures are moving fast. We’re laser-focused on building capacity in key states to stop discriminatory bills in their tracks while working to pass bold, innovative legislation that advances our rights.

Priority Issues

We focus our state-level policy work on key issues important to our community.

Public Education

We work to ensure public schools teach facts, not faith. We support policies that respect teachers’ professionalism and protect students’ rights to a comprehensive and evidence-based education. That means “yes” to accurate history and science instruction and “no” to book bans and religious indoctrination.

LGBTQ+ Equality

Religious freedom is for all of us—no matter our beliefs or lack thereof. We challenge laws that weaponize this liberty against LGBTQ+ people. The hateful religious dogma of a few has no place in the policies that govern us all. We believe everyone deserves to live openly, authentically, and without fear.

Health Care

No one should ever lose their access to medical care because of someone else’s religious beliefs. We fight religious exemptions that would allow health care providers or institutions to deny treatment, and we work to ensure public health policy is guided by science, not theology.

Reproductive Freedom

From abortion bans to attacks on birth control and deceptive faith-based pregnancy centers, we’re pushing back against harmful laws rooted in religious ideology. We support bodily autonomy. We trust in science. And we don’t think the religious beliefs of politicians should be a factor in the care you receive.

Special Privileges for Religion

We oppose taxpayer funding of religious institutions, religious exemptions that harm others, and policies that elevate belief over nonbelief or one faith tradition over another. And we’re making sure nonreligious Americans have a voice in government because, “We, the People” means all people, and this is our home, too.

Opposing Christian Nationalism

Christian nationalism threatens democracy for all of us by fusing religion and government power—something the First Amendment explicitly prohibits. We track, expose, and oppose legislation designed to impose a narrow religious worldview on our pluralistic nation, and we support policies that safeguard our secular government.

Our Work, By The Numbers

Our team tracks bills in all 50 states, working to stop discriminatory bills in their tracks to prevent them from ever becoming law.

Bills Tracked This Year
Testimony Submitted
State Action Alerts

Latest Actions

American Atheists files testimony supporting and opposing state legislation every week.

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