Emily Bickford has been ordered by a judge to avoid anything to do with church, the Bible, or the Christian faith when it comes to her daughter, Ava.
Emily is in a custody battle with Ava's father, an atheist.
Liberty Counsel is helping Emily challenge the order in court.
"This is an outrageous order that prohibits a mother, a fit parent, from taking her child to any church, religious organization, religious event, including Christmas celebrations or Easter, and she has to disassociate and cannot have any connection or association with anyone who is associated with Calvary Chapel in Portland, Maine," Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel chairman, told AFN. "She can't read the Bible. She can't be exposed to any religious philosophy or religious literature or videos."
This has been since December 2024.
That also will hold through for December 2025 unless and until this order is overturned.
"Liberty Counsel has taken on this case on appeal, and I recently argued the matter at the Maine Supreme Court before six justices," said Staver. "As soon as the court issues its ruling, which I anticipate will be overruling this unconstitutional order, then we'll be able to bring some religious freedom back to Emily and her daughter Ava, but in the meantime, this outrageous order needs to be reversed."
Staver said he's never seen anything like this in his legal career.
Every time it mentions God in the order, it lower cases the word god. Staver called that a direct assault on Emily's monotheistic values that there is only one God.
"We don't typically take on custody matters because there are so many different issues that come up with custody matters and there's others that can do that," said Staver. "However, this particular case jumped off the page when we saw the order, and we got involved to take this matter up on appeal."
Staver also requested that people be praying for Emily and Ava, adding this case is also a spiritual battle.
"Imagine you as a parent being prohibited by a court order from taking your child to any religious event, church, or even reading the Bible for now, a year."
