Religious Refusals Complaint Form

If you have been denied services or health care because of someone else’s religious beliefs, the ACLU of Illinois wants to hear about it. We might be able to help.

With increasing frequency, we are seeing individuals and institutions claiming a right to discriminate — by refusing to provide health care and other services to women and LGBT people — based on religious objections. The discrimination takes many forms, including:

Doctors and religiously affiliated hospitals refusing to provide basic care to women — like birth control, emergency contraception, abortion, and other pregnancy-related care
Doctors and religiously affiliated hospitals failing to provide patients with complete medical information because of religious objections to certain kinds of care
Mental health professionals refusing to counsel LGBT people
Pharmacies turning away women seeking to fill birth control prescriptions
Businesses, like bakeries and photographers, refusing to serve LGBT people

Through litigation, advocacy and public education, the ACLU of Illinois works to defend the rights of everyone to believe and worship as they wish and to ensure that no one is either discriminated against or denied services because of someone else’s religious beliefs.

If you have experienced any of these forms of discrimination, we want to hear from you. We are collecting facts to help our advocacy – and in some cases to pursue legal action – to ensure that women and LGBT individuals are not denied services, information, or health care because of the religious views of health care providers, business owners or employers. Please take a few minutes to tell us your story.

We treat information provided to us as confidential. We will not publicize your story without your permission.

PLEASE NOTE:

The ACLU of Illinois provides legal representation on certain matters, but solely where the incident occurred in the state of Illinois, or cases involving residents of Illinois. The organization is not a provider of general legal services; it only litigates cases where there has been a violation of a person’s civil rights, primarily by the government. We do not practice criminal law or generally take cases where rights have been violated by a private entity. After receiving your request, it may take up to two weeks to receive a response from the Intake Department. As such, if your case is extremely time-sensitive, you may wish to consult a private attorney. The ACLU of Illinois cannot provide legal advice unless the organization has accepted your case. The receipt of and/or response to your inquiry does not indicate the acceptance of your case.

Please tell us by filling out the form below. Be sure to read about our Intake Procedures before filling out this form. We receive many requests for help, so please bear with us as we try to get to your request. We'll let you know whether we can give you legal assistance. If we can't, we'll try to find another organization that may be better equipped to help.

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Did the incident take place in Illinois? *

If you indicated that you do not live in Illinois, or if the incident in question did not take place in Illinois, the ACLU of Illinois will not be able to assist you. To find the ACLU affiliate in your state, click here.

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Please submit a brief summary, of no more than one page, of the legal issue you are asking ACLU to consider. If we need more information, we will contact you.

How did you hear about us?

The ACLU selects only a few cases among the many requests for legal assistance that we receive. Our accepting this information from you does not mean we have agreed to serve as your lawyers or to give you legal advice. The information on this form will be kept confidential.

The ACLU of Illinois solely takes cases where the incident occurred in the state of Illinois, or cases involving residents of Illinois. The organization is not a provider of general legal services; it only litigates cases where there has been a violation of a person’s civil rights, primarily by the government. We do not practice criminal law or generally take cases where rights have been violated by a private entity. After receiving your request, it may take up to two weeks to receive a response from the Intake Department. As such, if your case is extremely time-sensitive, you may wish to consult a private attorney. The ACLU of Illinois cannot provide legal advice unless the organization has accepted your case. The receipt of and/or response to your inquiry does not indicate the acceptance of your case.

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