Man says he was terminated for praising Roe reversal; nonprofit claims 'misunderstanding'
An arts council that reportedly released a Maryland man from his contract over a Facebook post celebrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade claims the matter was a misunderstanding after the man declared his pro-life stance was the reason for his termination.
As WBFF reported Thursday, Zach Tomlin commended the U.S. Supreme Court's June 24 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in a personal post on his Facebook page. Tomlin was contracted to work for the Carroll County Arts Council, a nonprofit organization that acts as a performing arts venue and promotes a variety of artistic pursuits.
"I'm not here to look down upon or judge anyone," Tomlin wrote. "It's a victory for those of us who believe in small government."
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Lynne Griffith, executive director at the nonprofit arts council where Tomlin was contracted to work, reportedly sent him an email a few hours after the post. The alleged email said that in "light of [Tomlin's] political post on Facebook," Griffith was "reconsidering [their] business relationship."
"I will advise you of the date of termination," she is quoted as writing.
Tomlin, a Republican candidate for the Maryland State Senate for District 42, expressed concern that the incident could harm his reputation. The district he's running in covers parts of Carroll and Baltimore County, according to his campaign website.
"It makes you feel like a monster, like you're doing something wrong, and that's not who I am," Tomlin said in a statement published by WBFF.
According to the Baltimore Fox affiliate, the council is funded mainly by tax dollars.
"You can't have someone like that in charge of a nonprofit when they're going to discriminate against someone's religious beliefs or political ideology," the Republican candidate asserted.
In a Friday email responding to an inquiry from The Christian Post regarding Tomlin's claims, the Carroll County Arts Council wrote, "The misunderstanding with Mr. Tomlin has been resolved."
The court's decision to overturnRoe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that argued the U.S. Constitution protects the right to abortion, prompted reactions from various public figures and politicians, ranging from satisfaction to condemnation. The court upheld Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban with its 6-3 ruling. The court's conservative majority agreed there is no constitutional right to abortion and returned the issue to the states.
Pastor Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, which filed an amicus brief supporting Mississippi's abortion ban, celebrated the court's ruling.
"God is the author of life, and every human life from conception to death has inestimable worth," Kim said in a statement. "Under Roe v. Wade, our ability to consider policies that safeguard life at the most vulnerable stage was severely limited."
"While the Dobbs decision doesn't resolve all the questions on abortion policy, it does remove an impediment to considering pro-life concerns," he continued.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also praised the decision in a series of tweets, calling it a "massive victory for life."
"The decision reverses one of the most egregious departures from the Constitution and legal precedent the United States has ever seen, and one that has resulted in the deaths of 63 million American children," he tweeted.
Some, like Rev. William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, denounced the court's ruling, labeling it an attack on women's rights.
"Too all women: I'm so sorry that this [extreme] court would vote to give a rapist more power over you than you have over your own body," he tweeted.
"In response to attacks on voting rights, living wages & now women's bodies, the just community's response must be the most massive progressive voter turnout in the history of the nation."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., expressed similar thoughts, categorizing the court's decision as "the GOP's dark and extreme goal of ripping away women's right to make their own reproductive health decisions."
