(ANTIMEDIA) President Donald Trump signed his newest executive order on Thursday. This time, he will seek to expand religious liberties.
Trump’s hand has barely stopped scribbling away at executive orders since he took office in January. In the first week, he signed more orders than any president in 70 years, and that pace has hardly abated.
But now the president has signed an order that might just be one of the most influential of his presidency thus far. Thursday’s order is expected to end the Obama-era requirement that required employers’ health insurance plans to cover contraception and birth control. Vice President Pence has long fought against that requirement on the basis it’s unconstitutional, as it may go against some religious beliefs. Once Trump was elected, women rushed to get IUDs (a long-term form of birth control) that would outlast the Trump administration. One law student even joked to the Washington Post, “I’m Pence-proofing my uterus.”
Thursday’s order also reportedly rolls back the Johnson Amendment, which keeps tax-exempt religious groups from endorsing candidates. The Johnson Amendment was signed by Lyndon B. Johnson when he was a senator and has been a staple of the political system. While individual pastors can often get around the amendment, it’s difficult for a tax-exempt church — like the Catholic Church or the Church of Scientology — to push a candidate on their parishioners.
There are few reasons President Trump has chosen Thursday to sign his newest bill into law. First, Thursday is the National Day of Prayer, and a number of religious leaders will be at the White House. Second, Trump’s new spending bill keeps funding for Planned Parenthood. Defunding the organization was one of his campaign promises, and many of his supporters are upset he wasn’t able to broker a deal to get rid of the organization.
Already, civil liberties groups are preparing to fight the new order in court. While it may seem like liberal activist groups are grabbing at straws, they were able to block Trump’s travel ban. While the new executive order is a small victory for Trump, it is also an important victory for an administration that has had a tough time fulfilling promises.
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