Bossier City Lawmaker To Introduce Bill To “Enhance” Religious Freedom
A Bossier City Republican lawmaker is drafting a bill that would protect the "religious freedom" of those who might disagree with the prevailing views on marriage.
State Rep. Mike Johnson said his bill would prohibit state government from denying a license, organizational papers, and permits to a businesses based on the owners view of marriage, according to the Times Picayune newspaper in New Orleans.
"It is a protection for all persons regardless of their religious viewpoint," Johnson said.
Johnson said his bill is different than the laws currently under intense scrutiny in Arkansas and Indiana in that his legislation would prohibit discrimination from the government. Louisiana already has its own "Religious Freedom Restoration Act," Johnson said, and that law does not need updating.
Marjorie Esman with the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana said Johnson's law is unnecessary because government already cannot discriminate based on an owner's view on marriage.
"It sounds like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist," Esman told the Times Picayune.