Hatch, Utah senators asking support for religious freedom legislation

Hatch, Utah senators asking support for religious freedom legislation

(Laura Seitz/Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah senators are calling on other congressmen to preserve current federal law and support proposed legislation to protect religious liberties for individuals and institutions in light of a U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the country.

While implications of the ruling become clearer, Utah Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee say, the next step should be to ensure protection for institutions that believe in traditional marriage for religious reasons.

Hatch said the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 remains "the last bastion of protection for religious belief in this country," and that it should be "followed and not diminished" by lawmakers.

"I'm worried about basic religious freedom. I'm worried about free speech rights," Hatch said Thursday. "I believe in treating everybody fairly and with equal consideration. But to have this sea change in morals in our society, it's a thunderstruck-type thing, and I have to admit, it's very, very difficult for me."

The act, which passed with a wide majority of votes, was intended "to provide a claim or defense to persons whose religious exercise is substantially burdened by government," according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Hatch said it is unlikely the act would pass if it were voted on today, but what should be clear that religious freedom continues to be a part of "the very fabric of this country."

"This country's been built by religious belief, no question in my mind about it," he said. "I'm going to fight anything that tries to reduce the value and the principles and the thrust of our religious beliefs, of our right to have religious beliefs."

Hatch is a co-sponsor of the First Amendment Defense Act, which Lee introduced to the U.S. Senate last month as a measure to protect institutions that believe in traditional marriage from government retaliation.

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As an example, the bill would allow churches to remain tax-exempt if they refuse to officiate same-sex weddings. It would protect religiously affiliated colleges and universities from being disqualified for accreditation or federal financial aid because of their stance on same-sex unions.

The bill also applies to individuals who work for the government, allowing them employment opportunities regardless of their beliefs about marriage.

Lee said the Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage could give federal agencies a "conceivable" chance of revoking tax exemption status for churches refusing to perform same-sex marriages. But his bill would prevent that.

"It's about more than just government forcing or not forcing a church to perform a gay marriage," Lee said. "It's also about what government might do to retaliate against those that for religious reasons don't recognize same-sex marriage. We need to keep government out of the business of discriminating against those who have that belief."

The bill, sponsored by Lee and Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, is currently in the Judiciary Committee. It now has 69 co-sponsors in the House and 21 co-sponsors in the Senate, including GOP presidential candidates Sens. Ted Cruz, of Texas; Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina; and Marco Rubio, of Florida.

But a likely hangup for the bill is a lack of bipartisan support. Hatch said getting Democratic Senators to vote in favor of the bill will be "very, very difficult."

"The fact is, I doubt that it has a future, because I don't think you're going to get any Democrat to vote for it," Hatch said on KSL Newsradio's "Doug Wright Show." "We still have to make the effort. I think we're going to have a filibuster on it, no matter what happens."

Lee said Democratic support "remains to be seen," but he's hopeful that will change as the bill comes up for debate.

"I am confident that in some way, we can make this a bipartisan effort because this really is not a liberal or conservative (issue), it's not a Republican or Democratic issue. It's simply an American issue," he said. "This (bill) is necessary because we're talking here about a type of discrimination by government that is, if not well underway, at least coming."

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UtahPolitics
Morgan Jacobsen

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