Religious imposition laws are designed to shield private individuals and businesses from complying with nondiscrimination laws, and permit them to deny people basic services based on stated religious beliefs. The past few years have seen a sharp uptick in the introduction of such bills, most notably in the form of expanded Religious Freedom Restoration Act ( RFRA ) laws, in state legislatures across the country.
On Dec. 13, the daily online publication Rewire introduced a new resource, the Religious Imposition Legislative Tracker, a comprehensive and timely database of state and federal legislation that seeks to expand the reach of religious power into secular lives.
"As religious conservatives expand their control of statehouses and governors offices across the country, it's more important than ever to track their legislative efforts to use religion to discriminate," said Jodi Jacobson, Rewire President and Editor in Chief. "Their overreach already touches the everyday lives of countless people, from where to use the restroom or buy pizza, to serious decisions about where to seek emergency medical care."
The legislative tracker details state and federal measures related to religious imposition, such as RFRAs, which permit those with religious objections to avoid complying with certain laws. Others take the form of conscience and refusal laws that permit civil servants, health-care workers, and others to deny people access to birth control, abortion and other basic services based on a moral or religious objection. Still other forms of religious imposition, such as anti-transgender legislation ( or so-called "bathroom bills" ), target specific groups and seek to shield businesses and individuals from anti-discrimination laws.
"One trend apparent from the data in the tracker is that, while the battle over marriage equality was moving through the courts, states were busy pushing new or expanded RFRAs or other related 'conscience objections' to performing marriages or ceremonies for same sex couples," said Jessica Mason Pieklo, Rewire Vice President of Law and the Courts. "As public opinion shifted to acceptance of marriage equality, conservative lawmakers shifted away from legislation designed to directly deny marriage services and toward legislation targeting transgender individuals."
Resources:
Religious Imposition Legislative Tracker: rewire.news/legislative-tracker/law-topic/religious-imposition-laws/ .
A Timeline of Religious Imposition: rewire.news/article/2016/12/13/timeline-religious-imposition/ .
The Biggest Religious Imposition Fight Teed Up for 2017: rewire.news/article/2016/12/13/biggest-religious-imposition-fight-teed-2017/ .