White House Calls Indiana 'Religious Freedom' Law 'Not Fair' - East Idaho News
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White House Calls Indiana ‘Religious Freedom’ Law ‘Not Fair’

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Getty 033115 WhiteHouse?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1427832320766iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Tuesday ripped the Indiana “religious freedom” law signed last week by Gov. Mike Pence, calling it “not fair” and not consistent with “our values.”

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest denied claims from the law’s supporters that it was “in line” with a federal law passed during the Clinton administration.

“I know that Governor Pence has tried to falsely suggest that the law that was signed in Indiana is the same as the law that was passed on the federal level in 1993,” he said at Tuesday’s White House press briefing. “That is not true.”

Instead, Earnest countered, the Indiana law “seems to legitimize discrimination.” The White House sees the federal law, on the other hand, as “an effort to try to protect the religious liberty of religious minorities based on actions that could be taken by the federal government.”

“The Indiana law is much broader,” Earnest claimed. “It doesn’t just apply to individuals or religious minorities. It applies to…’a partnership, a limited liability company, a corporation, a company, a firm, a society, a joint stock company, or an unincorporated association.'”

“We’ve seen business leaders all across the country say that they’re reluctant to do business in Indiana,” he pointed out, referencing statements criticizing the law last week from Apple CEO Tim Cook and Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff. Those business leaders he said, made their statements “because this law could make it more likely that the customers of those businesses, and that the employees of those business, are now more likely to be discriminated against.”

“It’s important for everybody to stand up and speak out,” Earnest concluded.


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