WASHINGTON — In the past few weeks, Republican governors in Idaho, Utah, and West Virginia signed into law measures designed to grant religious freedom protections in their states.
Utah adopted its own version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act which aims to protect people’s right to freely practice their religion without facing significant interference from the government.
West Virginia’s new law stipulates that campuses cannot discriminate against faith-based groups, and Idaho’s law protects the religious rights of faith-based adoption centers and foster care homes.
The Utah law, signed by Gov. Spencer Cox on March 21, puts in place state-level protections of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). This allows people in the state to challenge government regulations they believe interfere with their “sincerely held” religious beliefs. Utah is now the 25th state to have this legislation.
Republican Rep. Jordan Teuscher, the House sponsor of the bill, has described this legislation as “the strongest RFRA law that exists in the nation.” The measure was also supported by LGBTQ+ advocates after the Senate added legal protections in the bill for them.
Greg Chafuen, a legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a statement that Utah’s new law “provides a sensible balancing test for courts to use when reviewing government policies that infringe upon the religious freedom rights of Utahans.”
He said the law “doesn’t determine who will win every disagreement, but it does ensure that every Utahan — regardless of their religious creed or political power — receives a fair hearing when government action forces a person to violate his or her religious beliefs.”
Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia signed legislation March 21 that aims to protect “freedom of association and nondiscrimination against students and student organizations” on the campuses of public colleges and universities.
The measure amends existing state law to eliminate the requirement that student organizations are “open to all students.” The code is amended to prohibit discrimination against student organizations based on requirements “that the organization’s leaders or members” either “affirm and adhere to the organization’s sincerely held beliefs” or “comply with the organization’s standards of conduct” or “further the organization’s mission or purpose.”
Matt Sharp, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom and director of its Center for Public Policy, said the new law safeguards “the ability of belief-based student organizations to associate with those who align with the organization’s mission and purpose.”
“We wouldn’t require a Democrat club to select a registered Republican as its president or an environmental club to admit members who support drilling in the Arctic,” he added. “In the same way, religious clubs must remain free to require their leaders and members to adhere to their religious beliefs and values.”
He also said the legislation “ensures that student groups at public universities can freely choose their leaders and members, and further their mission, absent of discrimination.”
On March 25, Gov. Brad Little of Idaho signed into law a measure that prohibits the state from discriminating against adoption agencies or parents seeking to adopt based on their religious beliefs.
Chafuen said the law “helps children benefit from as many adoption and foster care agencies as possible, faith- and non-faith-based alike.”
