Over the weekend, Indiana’s Republican Governor, Mike Pence, insisted that the new Religious Freedom Restoration Act he signed into law week is just like the federal RFRA, enacted in 1993, and doesn’t permit discrimination cloaked in religion. This same claim–that Indiana’s RFRA and the federal RFRA are identical–is the basis for the conservative outcry that the media has the story wrong, and the Indiana law is merely intended to protect religious rights, rather than allow discrimination, particularly against LGBT people.
In his appearance on ABC’s This Week, Pence maintained that the new law “does not even apply to disputes between private parties unless government action is involved.” He insisted that the statutory language is the same as the federal RFRA, as well as one in Illinois that President Barack Obama supported as a state senator. As PolitiFact noted, though, “Pence is incorrect to say the language is the same.” What’s more, “[p]roponents of this law are pushing the measure as a way that businesses can seek protection ‘for refusing to participate in a homosexual marriage.'”
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