Secretary Kennedy Removes Federal Funding from the AAP
We did it! Every organization that signed, joined with us as one unified voice, every person who bravely put their name on our letter and petitions, you answered the clarion call, and so did Secretary Kennedy!
For more than 7 months, PERK President Amy Bohn called it on podcasts, interviews, drafted letters, built coalitions, and petitions to address this issue. She has been raising awareness that federal dollars should be removed from any institution, entity that is violating families' religious beliefs.
Together in unison, Secretary Kennedy has acted and answered the call by removing federal funds from the AAP. Our letter to the President of the United States, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Office of Civil Rights, exposed the nationwide denial in specific states of religious exemptions, medical exemptions, and children’s access to education.
We made it clear: “Families should never be forced to choose between their faith and their children’s education.”
In this letter, we documented how children across the country—including in states like California, New York, Connecticut, Maine, and West Virginia—are being removed from school because there is no religious exemption allowed. Some children are even kicked out mid-year, denied schoolwork, dropped from A’s to F’s, and parents are threatened with truancy charges. This is discriminatory, unconstitutional, and violates fundamental civil rights. We shared the incredibly dangerous announcement from the AAP over the summer whose intent was clear to support and encourage policies that remove religious exemptions nationwide.
We also urged HHS Secretary Kennedy to take immediate federal action by ending the denial of religious, personal belief, and conscientious exemptions and ensuring no federal funds support agencies or schools that violate these rights. The letter to President Trump and our request is backed by 35 states, 61 organizations, and over 1,000 public signers, including faith leaders. In our letter to Secretary Kennedy we cite the support on our letter to the President.
We sent a letter to the Religious Liberty Commission exposing violations in California and four other states — and we’re building strong relationships with key leaders there. PERK stands firm for parents, children’s right to an education, for health freedom, which also demands religious liberty.
Thank to everyone fighting for children, defending health freedom, advocating, strategizing, and pushing forward. This is what accountability looks like. This is what advocacy does. And we are just getting started. There’s more to do, but we can do this together. Keep fighting!
Letter to HHS Secretary Kennedy
Letter to Religious Liberty Commission
Letter to the Office of Civil Rights
