Tim Barto: Why does Alaska score so low on religious liberty ranking?

By TIM BARTO | ALASKA FAMILY COUNCIL

Alaska is ranked 49^th in the nation for religious freedom, actually below California, which earned a 48^th placement.

This ranking is conducted by the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, and published in a study called Ranking Religious Liberty In The States. The organization has been publishing these studies since 2022, ranking each state from those that offer the most religious liberty (#1) to the least (#50).

Alaska’s 2024 ranking is four notches below its 2023 ranking and a whopping 19 places below its 2022 ranking, which is not the direction a free people should be headed. This is a matter of particular concern for faith-based social conservative groups such as Alaska Family Council, for whom religious liberty is a core value that drives its action steps.

The list shows that the Alaska Family Council has some work to do, and it reflects some other intriguing, if not suspicious, data, particularly when it comes to the top spot.

Solidly blue Illinois is ranked number one in religious freedom, although states two through eight are the traditionally conservate states of Florida, Montana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, and Utah.  

Conservative Texas, which conventional wisdom would expect to place high on the list, came in middle-of-the-road at number 23. Reliable red states Wyoming came in at 46^th and West Virginia came in as the only state lower on the scale than Alaska.

So, what makes The Great Land score so low when it comes to religious liberty? The main culprits are the categories of sterilization and contraception refusal, areas in which Alaska received zero marks. 

Sterilization refusal refers to the ability of health-care providers, individuals, and institutions to opt out of performing sterilization procedures due to religious beliefs.

Similarly, contraception refusal refers to the same lack of exemptions. 

When it comes to aborting babies, Alaska provides little protection for those medical professionals who have religious objections to having to take part in the process. As with the sterilization and contraceptive issues, there are few scenarios in which health-care providers, individuals, and institutions can recuse themselves from having to participate in the killing of preborn children. Alaska court decisions have effectively eliminated public hospitals from a “right to refuse” to perform abortions. 

Freedom of religious practice is subservient to the moral policies set by the state, a trend that is far too common, as we see when other states move to take children away from parents who refuse to affirm their child’s desire to declare themselves another gender, or when the state of Oregon makes it illegal for Christian parents to adopt children if the prospective parents won’t agree to allow their children to receive transgender treatments. 

Another area in which Alaska can certainly improve in the area of religious liberty has to do with marriage and wedding celebrations. When it comes to allowing clergy, religious organizations, government officials, and private businesses from being allowed to recuse themselves from taking part in weddings or wedding celebrations that conflict with their religious convictions, Alaska scores extremely low. 

Alaska also fails when it comes to having codified the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which 25 other states have done. 

Alaska’s history as a libertarian (small L) state appears to be outdated, at least when it comes to religious liberty. It’s pretty bad when California is ranked better in protecting its people from incursion by government in any field, let alone in the critical area of religious liberty, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. 

Click here if you would like to review the report:  Religious Liberty in the States.

Tim Barto is vice president of Alaska Family Council, an organization founded upon religious liberty. He is a regular contributor to Must Read Alaska.