PRESS RELEASE: Family Council Supports Religious Freedom Restoration Acts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 2, 2015
On Thursday Family Council announced support for Arkansas House Bill 1228 and Senate Bill 975, two bills called “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”
Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “We are still urging Governor Hutchinson to sign House Bill 1228, the original religious freedom law passed by more than two-thirds of both the Arkansas House and Arkansas Senate. If the Arkansas General Assembly passes Senate Bill 975, most of what we were trying to accomplish will have been done. The original religious freedom bill, H.B. 1228, was the Rolls Royce of religious freedom laws. S.B. 975, the replacement bill, is a Cadillac.”
Cox said that while H.B. 1228 is more clearly written, both bills have similar effects supporting religious liberty. “House Bill 1228, which was sent to the Governor first, spells out its definitions and effects very clearly. Senate Bill 975 relies on court rulings for many of its definitions. But many of House Bill 1228’s definitions were taken from court rulings, so in the end, I think both bills will help protect religious liberty.”
Cox called the controversy surrounding the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts unfounded. “The federal government passed the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993. At least twenty states have passed state laws to this effect since then. Many more protect religious liberty through court rulings. The sky hasn’t fallen in Kansas or Virginia because of their state religious freedom laws. It isn’t going to fall in Arkansas, either.”
Cox said a Religious Freedom Restoration Act is necessary to protect Arkansans of faith from government infringement. “These laws simply guarantee all Arkansans enjoy equal protection from the government infringing their free exercise of religion. If the government tries to force you to act against your deeply-held convictions, these laws help guarantee your day in court to defend yourself for obeying your religious beliefs. That’s something all Americans ought to be able to support.”
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