Religious Freedom Bill May be Coming to North Carolina

gnagel/iStock Editorial/Thinkstock(RALEIGH, N.C.) — Another state is now considering controversial “religious rights” legislation.

A North Carolina State Representative filed a bill this week similar to those in 20 other states across the country, according to a report by ABC News station WTVD-TV.

The bill would allow employers to pick and choose who they want to do business with based on their own personal religious beliefs.

Republican State Representative Paul Stam told WTVD-TV that state or local governments shouldn’t be able to order citizens to do things they have a religious belief against.

“Three or four years ago, when our marriage amendment supposedly was going to kill business in North Carolina.  The 10 states that were fastest-growing in the nation all had marriage amendments,” he said.

Indiana’s Republican Governor Mike Pence signed a new law on Thursday that allows businesses to refuse to serve people based on the business owner’s religious beliefs.

Sarah Preston, who works for the state’s American Civil Liberties Union, told the television station that the law is a slippery slope.

“People could ignore non-discrimination laws. They could ignore other laws that they don’t want to abide by, just by saying that they have a religious belief,” Preston said.

Raleigh business owner Tony Cope told WTVD-TV that if the law is passed, it would hurt efforts to recruit business and talent.

“It’s a hurdle,” Cope said. “I have to spend my time and effort convincing people that, well, this is the way the legislation is going, but it’s not really the way we do business in North Carolina.”

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