By Ana Campoy
Arkansas legislators passed a religious-objections bill on
Tuesday similar to the one enacted into law by Indiana, despite
growing opposition from companies and activist groups who fear that
such laws will lead to discrimination against gays and
lesbians.
The Arkansas House approved the measure Tuesday afternoon with
more than 60 votes in favor, in a series of actions to adopt
amendments made in the state Senate.
The bill now goes to Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, who has
said he would sign it, if the measure resembled laws passed by
other states. A spokesman for Mr. Hutchinson said Tuesday he will
comment on the bill on Wednesday.
A number of large companies--including Arkansas' most prominent
employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.--and Apple Inc. have come out
against the state's bill, saying it would result in discrimination.
The mayor of the state's capital, Little Rock, as well as the
Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, joined the opposition on
Tuesday, saying the bill would be bad for business.
Before the measure was approved as anticipated on Tuesday
afternoon, dozens of protesters gathered at the state Capitol,
waving signs urging Mr. Hutchinson to veto it.
During the short debate on the bill Tuesday, some lawmakers
proposed to send it back to committee to be amended, pointing to
the uproar in Indiana, where the state's law has led some critics
to urge a boycott of the state. That outcry spurred Indiana Gov.
Mike Pence on Tuesday to call for the state's law to be amended by
week's end to clarify that it doesn't allow businesses to deny
services to gays and lesbians.
State Rep. Clarke Tucker, a Democrat, said the language of the
bill is so broad it "opens the door to many kinds of
discrimination."
But most Arkansas House members voted against the proposal to
refer the Arkansas bill back to a committee.
"The bill is appropriate for us to pass at this point," said
state Rep. Bob Ballinger, a Republican who sponsored the
measure.
Supporters said the Arkansas bill is meant to protect
individuals and companies from any state and local laws, including
city ordinances, rules and policies, that substantially burden
their religious beliefs.
Its scope is wider than similar legislation passed in other
states and at the federal level, legal experts say, because it
broadly defines the exercise of religion as any action or refusal
to act "substantially motivated by a person's sincerely held
religious beliefs," regardless of whether those beliefs are central
to the religion in question.
It also allows those who claim to have been grieved to sue any
entity under the law, even if that entity isn't a part of
government. The law doesn't apply to employees seeking to file a
lawsuit against private employers or the state's correction
system.
Supporters of the bill say it is necessary to ensure that the
government doesn't infringe upon citizens' religious rights.
Critics say the implications of the law could be far reaching,
ranging from vendors denying service to gays to state health-care
workers refusing to provide contraceptives to unwed women.
"It's far too broad and far too dangerous," said Kendra Johnson,
a spokeswoman for Human Rights Campaign Arkansas, an advocacy group
for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. "We are not at a
point as a society when we can trust people not to discriminate,
unfortunately."
Unlike many other states, Arkansas has virtually no laws that
grant special protections for gays and lesbians.
"There are no countervailing laws that would balance the
religious liberties against the rights" of the LGBT community, said
Danielle Weatherby, an assistant professor at the University of
Arkansas School of Law who has studied religious-freedom laws.
Write to Ana Campoy at ana.campoy@wsj.com
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