Elizabeth Reiner Platt, Columbia Law School Law, Rights, and Religion Project
In June, the Supreme Court delivered its ruling in 303 Creative v. Elenis, a case brought forward by Lorie Smith, an evangelical Christian website designer in Colorado who said she should not have to provide services to same-sex couples due to her religious beliefs. The court decided 6-3 that the First Amendment’s free speech protection allows businesses that involve “creativity” or “expression” to deny services to LGBTQ+ customers. The ruling has created much confusion and uncertainty around what doors have been opened wide for other exemptions from anti-discrimination laws.
This week on The State of Belief, Interfaith Alliance’s weekly radio show and podcast, our host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is joined by Elizabeth Reiner Platt, director of Columbia Law School’s Law, Rights, and Religion Project to discuss this case and how it could lead to a wide range of discrimination.
Before joining Columbia Law School, Liz was a Staff Attorney at MFY Legal Services Mental Health Law Project. A graduate of the New York University School of Law, she was also Carr Center for Reproductive Justice Fellow at A Better Balance.
A year after the court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, Paul and Liz also speak about how, amid an increase in abortion bans across the U.S., religious abortion rights supporters are testing the principle of religious freedom in legal battles. In the past year alone, clergy and members of various faiths have filed lawsuits in eight states asserting that abortion bans and restrictions infringe on their religious beliefs.