By Ana Campoy
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday called for changes to
a religious-freedom bill passed by the state's legislature, after
it sparked an outcry akin to the one that followed a similar law in
Indiana from groups and companies who say it could be used to
discriminate against gays and lesbians.
Mr. Hutchinson, a Republican, asked lawmakers to recall the bill
at a news conference Wednesday morning, saying that its language
must make clear that it isn't the intent of Arkansas to
discriminate.
"The issue has become divisive because our nation remains split
on how to balance the diversity of our culture with the traditional
and firmly held religious convictions," Mr. Hutchinson said.
Mr. Hutchinson called on lawmakers to amend the current bill to
mirror federal religious liberty laws. The bill's supporters in the
state House rebuffed a move by other lawmakers to amend the bill
before passing it Tuesday, saying that the discrimination issue
should be addressed elsewhere.
In Indiana, widespread criticism over the religious-freedom law,
including calls for a boycott of the state, spurred GOP Gov. Mike
Pence on Tuesday to call for an amendment clarifying that the law
wouldn't permit businesses to deny service to gays and
lesbians.
The Arkansas bill, which protects individuals and companies from
state and local laws that infringe on their religious rights, was
approved by a sizable majority of legislators.
But a number of large companies--including Arkansas' largest
private employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.--and Apple Inc., oppose it,
saying it would result in discrimination. Wal-Mart Chief Executive
Doug McMillon asked Gov. Hutchinson to veto the bill in a statement
released Tuesday on Twitter.
The mayor of the state's capital, Little Rock, and the Little
Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, have come out against the bill
as well, saying it would be bad for business.
The law is also facing backlash from some civil-rights
advocates, who fear it will be used to deny public and private
services to gays and lesbians. Ernie Green and Carlotta Walls
Lanier, members of the "Little Rock Nine" group that helped
integrate that city's school system in the late 1950s, called the
bill "dangerous and derogatory" in a statement released by Human
Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people.
Supporters of the bill say it is necessary to ensure that the
government doesn't infringe upon citizens' religious rights, adding
that its intent isn't to discriminate against gays and
lesbians.
The Arkansas measure, like Indiana's law, is wider in scope than
similar legislation passed in other states and at the federal
level, legal experts say. That is 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.
Write to Ana Campoy at ana.campoy@wsj.com
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