What’s new in RLS 2026?
Religious Liberty in the States (RLS) is a data project and index measure reflecting the current landscape of free-exercise protections at the state level.
Now in its fifth annual edition, RLS analyzes all fifty states on fifty detailed items. New items measured in RLS 2026 include a medical conscience protection that permits individuals to decline to participate in genetic counseling, a protection for individuals to opt-out of joining labor unions if they have religious objections to doing so, and whether states protect people from discrimination at public institutions of higher education because of their religious commitments.
With richer data, anyone can dig deeper!
RLS 2026 has been updated to reflect a broader scope of items in its 20 safeguards, including the changes in states’ laws during 2025. Equipped with five years of data, researchers and concerned citizens alike can see where states stand today and trace trends in religious liberty protections over time.
Explore what your state is doing now to protect religious liberty, and where it’s lacking, look to other states for examples of what is possible. Find (and share) your state’s scorecard or explore across states in a topic area of interest to you.
Researchers will find the complete RLS 2026 dataset useful. Now longitudinal, it includes complete citations to state statutes and detailed notes from the RLS research team.
George Washington
(August 18, 1790)
Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island
