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| Arkansas and Indiana have made revisions to their controversial religious freedom laws. Image: Shutterstock |
The governors of Arkansas and Indiana have signed into law
revisions to their respective religious
freedom laws in response to national uproar over the laws’ potential
discriminatory effects.
The laws, intended to potect religious freedoms, received
criticism from opponents who saw them as a legalized way for businesses to
discriminate against LGBT customers.
While the original laws did not specifically mention the LGBT community,
many backers have previously shown support for anti-gay marriage legislation.
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed the new measure in
an effort to have the law more closely reflect a 1993 federal law enacted by
President Bill Clinton, the first of the Religious Freedom Restoration
Acts. This amended law was approved 76
to 16 and prohibits state and local government from infringing on someone’s
religious beliefs without a compelling cause.
The
Indiana version of the law built on the original federal law to allow both
individuals and businesses to claim in court that their religious beliefs
prevented them from providing goods or services to certain groups.
The
Indiana law came under fire from the National Collegiate Athletic Association,
which publically raised ethical questions about the scope of the law and its
potential for discrimination. The
NCAA has come out in favor of the revision, which states that the law
“cannot be used to discriminate against anyone.”
While
many businesses announced their approval of the revisions, others are concerned
that the law still does not stand as an expressly anti-discrimination law (the
anti-discrimination laws currently on the books in Indiana do not address
sexual orientation). Angie’s
List, for instance, called the revision “insufficient,” making it the first
major local company to reject the deal.
Angie’s List has cancelled plans to expand its Near-Eastside corporate
campus, which would have added 1,000
Repercussions
of the whole event are likely to continue to affect business both locally and
nationally, with big names like Apple CEO Tim Cook expressing concern about the
direction such laws take businesses. In
an op-ed in The Washington Post,
Cook said that “these bills currently under consideration truly will hurt jobs,
growth, and the economic vibrancy of parts of the country where a 21st-century
economy was once welcomed with open arms.”
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