First Liberty Institute

First Liberty frequently represents members of the U.S. military in religious freedom disputes.

First Liberty represented Stephanie Carter, a U.S. Army veteran and nurse practitioner at the Olin E. Teague Veterans Center in Temple, Texas. Carter sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs over its decision to offer abortion services in certain cases and abortion counseling to veterans. Carter’s lawsuit claimed that the VA’s policies violated her sincerely-held religious beliefs, which prohibit her from participating in abortion procedures or services. She twice requested a religious accommodation but failed to obtain one. She was told that a religious exemption or accommodation process did not exist at the VA to review such requests. Carter’s lawsuit resulted in a nationwide religious accommodation process for all VA employees with religious objections to participating in abortion procedures, or any procedure they find unconscionable.

In 2011, First Liberty filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs alleging that the department had censored prayers and the use of the words "God" or "Jesus". The department's response was that its regulations stated that there is no censorship but that the religious preferences of the families of the deceased are respected and that at times families have complained about volunteers and the Veterans of Foreign Wars had included religious references in services even though the families had requested that there be none. The department's response said, "Defendants believe that it should be the family's choice and decision what to have read in accordance with their faith tradition, if any, because it would be improper for others to impose their own religious preferences on a Veteran's family, especially during this meaningful event". The case was settled in September 2012 after mediation by former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas R. Phillips.