Indiana Legislators Meeting to Clarify ‘Religious Freedom’ Law
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RudyBalasko/iStock/Thinkstock(INDIANAPOLIS) — A bipartisan group of lawmakers in Indiana will meet Thursday morning to debate a bill clarifying the state’s new “religious freedom” law, which critics have said gives business owners the right to discriminate against members of the LGBT community.
Deliberations begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, with four members of each party making up the conference.
Once the conference agrees on the bill’s language, it will go to the legislature for a vote.
The controversial law – called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act – was signed by Gov. Mike Pence last week and prompted national outcry from human rights groups and businesses, though a number of likely Republican presidential candidates have all come out in support of the law. Pence said Tuesday that he mishandled the law’s passage and the bill needed to be fixed.
Earlier on Wednesday, state legislators were working on multiple possible fixes for the legislation. On Wednesday evening, Democratic state Rep. Ed DeLaney tweeted that the votes to repeal the RFRA were getting close.
We are very close to having enough Republican votes to repeal RFRA. The question is if Repub leadership will let them vote their conscience.
— Ed DeLaney (@eddelaney86) April 1, 2015
Numerous corporate icons, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, have spoken out against the law, which they say is exclusionary and allows for discrimination against LGBT citizens. On Wednesday, General Electric Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt wrote an open letter to Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, calling for the governor to “make it clear that [Indiana] law will not permit discrimination of any kind.
My open letter to @GovPenceIN urging him to make it clear that IN law will not permit discrimination of any kind: http://t.co/CGMLnayLH9
— Jeff Immelt (@JeffImmelt) April 1, 2015
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