The Overreach Monitor is a new Substack from Catholics for Choice to expose Catholic overreach into our politics.

We know that religious overreach affects us all — whether you are Catholic or not. After all, it’s no secret that all the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade are or were raised Catholic. But, you might not know the influence the Catholic bishops have on our healthcare system, or what terms key Catholic politicians leverage to justify extremist policies. The Overreach Monitor is here to change that.

If you work in reproductive rights, health, and justice, you need The Overreach Monitor to understand the deeper Christian nationalist arguments that our anti-abortion opposition uses to push their extremist agenda. And we’re here to say it’s not just an issue of evangelicals, there is a uniquely Catholic-branded slant as well.

If you work in religion, you need The Overreach Monitor to realize that often, for our hierarchy, everything comes back to abortion. These views don’t represent the beliefs of all Catholics and certainly don’t represent the beliefs of all people and their varied religious backgrounds.

If you are concerned about our democracy (regardless of where you work), you need The Overreach Monitor to keep tabs on the ways religious freedom is being distorted and manipulated to infringe on our rights.

We do this work because we are committed to religious freedom. This watchdog will be a key tool to provide context for all people seeking to understand Catholic connections to their work — and you will want to, because there is always a religion angle.

Stay tuned and make sure you subscribe for in-depth investigations, rapid-response analysis of the news of the day, and community-sourced content to highlight the pervasive nature of religious overreach.

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