SCHIAVO TRAGEDY REVEALED TRUE AGENDA,

FRIGHTENING POWER OF RELIGIOUS RIGHT, SAYS AMERICANS UNITEDBattle Over Judges Is Next Round In 'Culture War,' AU's Lynn Says
The legal and political battle over Terri Schiavo exposed the Religious Right's radical agenda and its extraordinary power in Washington, D.C., and now Americans should expect that influence to be aimed at the nation's judiciary, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.Mrs. Schiavo, a Florida woman in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, was the subject of a lengthy legal dispute between her husband and other family members over whether her feeding tube should be removed. Until her death today, Religious Right forces used Mrs. Schiavo as a symbol in their drive to make government apply their fundamentalist beliefs to everyone. "At the behest of the Religious Right, Congress and President George W. Bush intervened in a place where they didn't belong - a personal family matter," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. "They failed, and now furious Religious Right leaders will step up their assault on our nation's courts." Lynn said James Dobson, Pat Robertson and other fundamentalist activists are going to demand that the Senate confirm judges who will advance their agenda, which includes repealing church-state separation, overturning reproductive rights, blocking stem-cell research and rolling back civil rights protections for gay people. "The Schiavo tragedy was seized upon by fundamentalists and their political allies in a bid to force their narrow moral code on everyone," said AU's Lynn. "Religious Right leaders want to stack the judiciary with right-wing ideologues. Then, there will be no one to stand in their way when they intrude into the most personal decisions of our lives.""During these past weeks," Lynn continued, "they aimed their venom at the state and federal courts involved in the Schiavo matter. They harbor great contempt for the nation's judiciary and the constitutional concept of separation of powers. They will demand radical changes."Congressional leaders Bill Frist and Tom DeLay are ready to work hard to push the kind of judges these religious extremists desire," Lynn concluded. "Frist and DeLay have said so in closed-door speeches to a Religious Right group. Defenders of American constitutional values must make their voices heard and stand against this Religious Right power grab." Days before Congress passed a law forcing federal courts to get involved in the Schiavo situation, Senate Majority Leader Frist (R-Tenn.) told a Family Research Council gathering at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. that he was beholden to the Religious Right's agenda and promised to confirm right-wing judges. He also pledged to re-write Senate rules to ensure that a minority filibuster could not be mounted to block far-right judicial nominees. (To listen to the Frist and DeLay addresses to the Family Research Council, go to <http://www.au.org/site/R?i=BeczXbhnEHHdVM0SF8w0fg..>)"Polls show that an overwhelming number of Americans did not want lawmakers to meddle in the Schiavo case," Lynn said. "But Religious Right leaders don't care what other people think. They believe they have a divine mandate to force everyone to follow their dictates. "This time, the Religious Right has gone too far," Lynn concluded. "The fundamentalist threat to our liberties has been laid bare for all to see. Americans must see to it that the Religious Right does not succeed."
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.