Michigan House Approves Religious Freedom Bill

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A bill that supporters say would protect people's right to exercise their religious beliefs free from government overreach has won approval from the Michigan House.

The Republican-led House voted 59-50 along party lines Thursday to move the legislation to the Senate.

"What we're doing today is we have a duty as legislators to safeguard these freedoms, these freedoms that are afforded to all Michigan citizens," said Rep. Andrea LaFontaine (R-New Baltimore), one of the seven Republicans who moved the bill out of the judiciary committee. "And I do believe our first amendment of freedom of religion is protected in this act."

Democrats in opposition say the bill lets people discriminate against gays and others.

"This particular law could be used to actively discriminate against people and to argue for the right to exercise one's freedom by harming someone else," said Susan Grettenberger, of the National Association of Social Work, who testified before the judiciary committee.

House Speaker Jase Bolger denies his legislation would provide a "license to discriminate." He wants to push ahead with it in the lame-duck session even though a related measure to prohibit discrimination against gays is stalled.

Bolger's bill would create a Michigan version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It would provide a claim or defense to people who say their exercise of religion has been substantially burdened by the government.

Rep. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) says the law is unnecessary, because there are already religious protections in the Constitution.

"I have not heard this outcry that there are any other issues out there," he said. "So why we need another bill to deal with this issue when both our U.S. and state constitutions deal with this issue is beyond me."

Singh's amendment to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which would have expressly prohibited discrimination against the LGBT community, failed to get out of committee and was declared dead by Bolger.

http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Michigan-House-Approves-Religious-Freedom-Bill-284814391.html