The Maine Supreme Court just upheld a ban prohibiting a 13-year-old girl from attending church or reading the Bible

Liberty Counsel is taking the case to the US Supreme Court.

Maine's Supreme Court has upheld an order forbidding a Christian mother from taking her own daughter to church, religious organization, or event, reading the Bible, or allowing her to associate with church friends.

Now Liberty Counsel is preparing to take this extraordinary case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In my 39 years of practicing law, I have never seen anything like this case. Now we need your help to take Bickford v. Bradeen to the U.S. Supreme Court.

No judge should be able to stop a parent from taking their child to church. Help us win with your gift today and a Challenge Grant will DOUBLE your impact.

Emily Bickford is a loving and fit mother. Yet because she became a born-again Christian and began taking her daughter, Ava, to Calvary Chapel, the court gave Ava's father authority to block her religious instruction — even during Emily's custodial time.

And Ava wants to go to church.

She misses her church friends. She wants to hear God's Word. But the court order has prevented her from attending ANY church, religious organization, or event like Christmas or Easter, unless her father approves — and he has refused to approve any church, anywhere.

No Bible study or any Christian literature is allowed!

If this precedent is allowed to stand, how far could courts go in deciding which religious beliefs parents may teach their children?

Liberty Counsel rarely intervenes in child-custody disputes. But this case raises a fundamental constitutional question that could affect Christian parents far beyond Maine.

Will you make a tax-deductible gift to Liberty Counsel today to help us take this fight forward? Right now, your gift can have DOUBLE the impact through our Challenge Grant.

The court acknowledged there was no evidence showing that Ava had been harmed by exposure to the Bible. However, the court did say “exposure” to Christian doctrine like heaven, hell, angels and demons, salvation, the Second Coming, and teaching the Bible “verse by verse, chapter by chapter” could be psychologically harmful.

The court also accepted testimony from a so-called California “expert” on “cults,” who said churches that teach the Bible and are confident in their Christian beliefs are following the “Moses Model,” which is meant to be derogatory.

The consequences are devastating.

• A mother has been told that her faith can be used against her.
• A teen girl who wants to attend church has been kept away.
• And a dangerous precedent now threatens to give judges extraordinary power over the religious upbringing of children.

Judges should not have the authority to decide that a fit parent may not take their own child to church.

That is why we are not backing down.

Taking a constitutional case to the U.S. Supreme Court requires substantial legal resources, and Liberty Counsel depends on faithful supporters like you to make these critical cases possible.

Please give today — and let the Challenge Grant DOUBLE the impact of your donation — to help us defend the right of parents to raise their children in their faith.

Please also pray for Emily and Ava as this legal battle continues. And pray that this case will ultimately establish stronger protections for every parent and child facing government hostility toward their faith.

Thank you for standing with Emily, Ava, and Liberty Counsel.

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

P.S. Ava wants to go back to church. Please make your most generous gift today to help us fight this case — and DOUBLE your impact through the Challenge Grant.