If this is your first visit to our site, Welcome; if not, Welcome Back. The North Shore Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State is one of more than 100 local chapters of the national organization of Americans United and the second chapter established in Illinois.

We urge visitors to visit the Americans United site for more information on the goals and objectives of Americans United. As you can see, this site is a work in progress and we hope that within a few weeks we'll have more resources and information on local programs, how you can get involved and what actions we can take to preserve the separation of church and state.

A good way the find out what the North Shore Chapter is all about is to attend one of our meetings and participate in our programs. Information on our next meeting is in the colujmn to your right on this page.

Again, Welcome and Thanks for visiting.

The next regular meeting of the North Shore Chapter will be on Thursday, January 28th at 7:00 pm at Northbrook Public Library, Pollack Room - 1201 Cedar Lane, Northbrook, IL 60062-4513 (847) 272-6224.

 Click here for a MAP and DIRECTIONS.

Guest Speaker:  Benita Ulisano of the Illinois Choice Action Team

Topic:  The Stupak-Pitts Amendment & Religious Influence on Health Care Legislation

Health care reform has been in the news a lot lately, and one aspect that got a lot of attention was the influence of the Catholic Conference of Bishops had on the legislation. One result was the much publicized "Stupak-Pitts Amendment" which would prohibit use of federal funds "to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion" except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother. The Catholic Conference of Bishops lobbied Congress hard to include this amendment in the new health care legislation, and it has raised some church-state separation concerns. Just how much should religious figures & groups be able to influence such legislation, if at all?

Come join us as Benita Ulisano gives us her perspective on the situation, and stay afterward for a deeper discussion. This meeting is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served.

For more information on the Illinois Choice Action Team, see their website at www.ilchoiceactionteam.org - if you have questions about the North Shore AU chapter, contact Matt Lowry e-mail or 847-918-0499