Religious Lawfare

Conscience-Based Claims in Liberal Democracies

Series: 

This book explores the influence of religious lawfare through the use of conscience-based claims—assertions rooted in individual or group religious or moral convictions—on shaping public policy and law, and their repercussions for democracy and human rights. It unveils a framework that not only defines but also systematizes uses of conscience-based claims, challenging prevalent notions about the motivations and actors behind religious lawfare. By contextualizing this expansion historically, it identifies new uses of these claims as undemocratic and explores global efforts to regulate them through international human rights and comparative law. Ultimately, the book offers a normative guide for handling conscience-based claims in liberal democracies.
Copyright Year:
2025
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ISBN:
978-90-04-68540-6
Publication:
24 Mar 2025
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Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-68539-0
Publication:
30 Jan 2025
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Andrés Constantin, S.J.D. (2023), Georgetown University Law Center, is Scholar at the O'Neill Institute, Visiting Professor at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University. He has published academic works on human rights, global and public health law.
Acknowledgements
Figures

Introduction
 1 The Contours
 2 Approach and Perspective
 3 The Structure
 4 The Exploration

1 Religious Lawfare: a Challenge to Liberal Democracies
 1 The Point of Departure
  1.1 Populism as a Challenge to Cosmopolitanism
  1.2 The Rise of Conservative Religious Groups
  1.3 Conservative Religious Groups Gaining Power
 2 Assertive Multiculturalism: a Theory
 3 Conservative Religious Movements and the Future of Liberal Democracies
 4 Conclusion

2 Waging Religious Lawfare through Conscience-Based Claims
 1 Religious Lawfare and Conscience-Based Claims
 2 The Juridification of Conscience
  2.1 History and Origins
  2.2 Conscientious Objection as a Legal Right
  2.3 Juridifying Conscience
 3 Conscience-Based Claims as Theocratization Tools
 4 Religious Lawfare in Healthcare
 5 Conclusion

3 Religious Lawfare: a Threat to Democracy and Human Rights
 1 Political Uses of Conscience-Based Claims
 2 Coercion, Democracy and Conscience
 3 Political Uses of Conscience-Based Claims Are Harmful
 4 Conclusion

4 Legal Efforts to Counter Religious Lawfare
 1 Countering Religious Lawfare: Universal Human Rights System
 2 Countering Religious Lawfare: Regional Human Rights Systems
  2.1 European Human Rights System
  2.2 Inter-American Human Rights System
  2.3 African Human Rights System
 3 Conclusion

5 Religious Lawfare at Play: Conscientious Objection in Healthcare
 1 Conscience-Based Claims to the Provision of Healthcare Services
 2 Dealing with “Vertical Expansions” of Conscience-Based Claims
  2.1 The Need to Limit Conscientious Objection in Healthcare
  2.2 Dealing with Conscientious Objection in Healthcare beyond Human Rights Standards
  2.3 A Model Regulation of Conscientious Objection in Healthcare
 3 Dealing with “Horizontal Expansions” of Conscience-Based Claims
  3.1 Views on Institutional Conscientious Objection
  3.2 Institutional Conscientious Objection through Comparative Law Lens
  3.3 Healthcare, Institutions and Role of the State
 4 Conclusion

6 A Path Forward: Mitigating the Impact of Religious Lawfare
 1 The Need for a New Normative Basis
  1.1 From Non-interference to Non-domination
  1.2 Freedom as Non-domination and New Uses of Conscience-based Claims
 2 A Path Forward for Conscience-Based Claims and for Liberal Democracies
 3 Conclusion

Conclusion

Table of Cases
Table of Instruments
Bibliography
Index
Academics, practitioners, advocates, students and laypersons interested in the relationship between religion, law, and politics, and the fields of international human rights law, sexual and reproductive rights, and democratic theory.
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