Gov. Mike Pence signs the “religious freedom bill” at a private ceremony March 26. (Photo from Gov. Pence’s website)
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath, from Michigan City, issued this statement March 26, 2015, after Gov. Mike Pence signed SB 101, the “religious freedom bill,” into law:
Pelath
“Today marks a giant step backward for Indiana. We are allowing people to discriminate against others under the phony cover of religious belief. This is progress? To conjure up images of people being denied service at lunch counters?
“Of course, none of this will register with the misguided souls who crafted this outrage. The dismay of interests as diverse as Cummins Engine, the Disciples of Christ Church, and the organizers of the Gen Con convention mean nothing to them. They will remain blissful in their ignorance. They have created a problem
Pence
where none existed, except in their old-fashioned thinking.
“Today’s news will delight one group of people above all. This will be a gravy train for Indiana’s lawyers, as they line up to defend this law. We will keep our expensive court system busy.
“But will this help put more Hoosiers to work with good-paying jobs? Does it show kindness and compassion for others? Does it demonstrate to the world that Indiana is a place where people should want to live and work?
“No.
“All this will bring our state is embarrassment and even shame. I hope it was worth it.”
State Rep. Tom Dermody, R-LaPorte, voted for the bill, according to the Indiana General Assembly website.
Pence issued this statement after signing the bill in a private ceremony:
“Today I signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, because I support the freedom of religion for every Hoosier of every faith.
“The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action.
“One need look no further than the recent litigation concerning the Affordable Care Act. A private business and our own University of Notre Dame had to file lawsuits challenging provisions that required them to offer insurance coverage in violation of their religious views.
“Fortunately, in the 1990s Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act—limiting government action that would infringe upon religion to only those that did not substantially burden free exercise of religion absent a compelling state interest and in the least restrictive means.
“Last year the Supreme Court of the United States upheld religious liberty in the Hobby Lobby case based on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but that act does not apply to individual states or local government action. At present, nineteen states—including our neighbors in Illinois and Kentucky—have adopted Religious Freedom Restoration statutes. And in eleven additional states, the courts have interpreted their constitutions to provide a heightened standard for reviewing government action.
“In order to ensure that religious liberty is fully protected under Indiana law, this year our General Assembly joined those 30 states and the federal government to enshrine these principles in Indiana law, and I fully support that action.
“This bill is not about discrimination, and if I thought it legalized discrimination in any way in Indiana, I would have vetoed it. In fact, it does not even apply to disputes between private parties unless government action is involved. For more than twenty years, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act has never undermined our nation’s anti-discrimination laws, and it will not in Indiana.
“Indiana is rightly celebrated for the hospitality, generosity, tolerance, and values of our people, and that will never change. Faith and religion are important values to millions of Hoosiers and with the passage of this legislation, we ensure that Indiana will continue to be a place where we respect freedom of religion and make certain that government action will always be subject to the highest level of scrutiny that respects the religious beliefs of every Hoosier of every faith.”