PROTECTING RIGHTS:
Pressure mounted from businesses
Arkansas, Indiana revise religous-freedom laws amid uproar.
INDIANAPOLIS — The governors of Arkansas and Indiana on Thursday quickly signed revised versions of their respective “religiousfreedom” laws, hoping to quell a national uproar that united business leaders and gay-rights activists who called the measures discriminatory.
Proponents of the laws argued that they were needed to protect religious freedom, while critics complained that the laws would allow discrimination against gays and lesbians who could be deprived of goods and services in the name of religious belief. Although neither of the original laws mentioned gays or lesbians, many of their conservative backers have opposed same-sex marriage.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed the modified bill after sending the measure back to the state Legislature early this week. He asked that the new measure closely reflect a 1993 federal law signed by President Bill Clinton that was the first of the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts.
“This mirrors the federal law,” the Republican governor said at the signing ceremony. “That was the objective. We did that.”
The Arkansas House approved the bill 76-16 after reaching a legislative compromise earlier in the day. The state law, like the federal, prohibits state and local government from infringing on someone’s religious beliefs without a compelling interest.
Both Arkansas and Indiana came under fierce pressure from local and national business leaders who argued the laws were too restrictive and would hurt future economic development. In Arkansas, retail giant Wal-Mart called for a veto of the original law, while hightech companies including Apple led the Indiana fight.
Indiana broadened the federal law to allow individuals and businesses to claim in court that their religious beliefs prevented them from providing goods or services to some groups. The Indiana opposition gained power when the National Collegiate Athletic Association raised questions about the original law.
Indiana, which passed its law first, had received the brunt of the national criticism.
The amendment offers some protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the first time an Indiana law has addressed the issue.
But the amendment stops short of being a separate anti-discrimination law that some critics of the law had sought. Indiana has anti-discrimination laws, but they do not cover cases involving sexual orientation.