Mike Pence on Defense

By: American Decency Staff

A few years ago, I did something no human being should ever have to do – intern with a news agency on Capitol Hill.

A few weeks into this – how should I say it? Memorable? – undertaking, with exactly zero interview experience, I was dropped off at the Capitol Building with a microphone and a cameraman and orders to ask any congressman I could find if they believed that life began at conception.

After catching a few conservative congressmen from Wyoming, and being shunned by Senator Carl Levin, I wound up in a hallway with Indiana Congressman Mike Pence who was, I believe, finishing up an interview with FOX News.

I'd seen a few of Congressman Pence's speeches and already had a great deal of respect for the man, so I was already a little nervous, plus I was still a little shaken from having just been told to get out of Senator Levin's face.

Congressman Pence could apparently sense my discomfort, because he put his hand on my shoulder to reassure me while we did our short little interview.

I learned two things that day. One, I was definitely not made to be a Capitol Hill reporter, and two, Congressman Pence didn't just give good speeches, he also had a good heart. It certainly wouldn't be every politician's instinct to comfort the overwhelmed intern.

Of course, he also believes life begins at conception, but anyone who's heard him speak knows that already.

Now Indiana Governor Pence has just signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), and, like my little inexperienced journalist self, he could probably use a little support.

Indiana's RFRA, strangely enough, is the little sister to a federal law by the same name which was passed in 1993. In those ancient and unrecognizable times, the RFRA was introduced by Rep. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), passed the House unanimously, passed the Senate with only three dissenting votes, and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

Nineteen states already have this legislation on the books, and ten others have legislation that performs the same kind of protection.

If this kind of law is so common and formerly uncontroversial, why have major corporations and organizations and even the NCAA threatened to leave Indiana if Pence signed the law?

Even Presidential hopeful and wife of the man who first signed the RFRA into law had something to say about it on Twitter.

"Sad this new Indiana law can happen in America today. We shouldn't discriminate against [people because] of who they love" – @ HillaryClinton

I'm sure you've guessed by now that the only thing that can garner so much outrage in America today is a perceived affront to homosexuals.

The Huffington Post, I assume, sums up the main concern: "The Religious Freedom Restoration Act would allow any individual or corporation to cite its religious beliefs as a defense when sued by a private party. But many opponents of the bill, which included business leaders, argued that it could open the door to widespread discrimination. Business owners who don't want to serve same-sex couples, for example, could now have legal protections to discriminate."

But, as one "informed legal scholar" and "supporter of gay rights," Professor Daniel O. Conkle, writes in the Indy Star, "the bill has little to do with same-sex marriage and everything to do with religious freedom."

Conkle continues, "Under the Indiana RFRA, those who provide creative services for weddings, such as photographers, florists or bakers, could claim that religious freedom protects them from local nondiscrimination laws. Like other religious objectors, they would have their day in court, as they should, permitting them to argue that the government is improperly requiring them to violate their religion by participating (in their view) in a celebration that their religion does not allow.

 But courts generally have ruled that the government has a compelling interest in preventing discrimination and that this interest precludes the recognition of religious exceptions. Even in the narrow setting of wedding-service providers, claims for religious exemptions recently have been rejected in various states, including states that have adopted the RFRA test. A court could rule otherwise, protecting religious freedom in this distinctive context. But to date, none has."

Obviously, and I think Mike Pence would agree, we hope that the RFRA would give individuals and their businesses a fighting chance when their religious beliefs come toe to toe with someone's sexual preference, but the bill is certainly far from what the Human Rights Campaign decried: "if signed into law, this bill could empower police officers to refuse to patrol the areas around synagogues or mosques [and] allow doctors to withhold medically-necessary information from their patients."

I think Hillary's husband did a pretty good job of explaining the need for a bill like this.

"What this law basically says is that the Government should be held to a very high level of proof before it interferes with someone’s free exercise of religion… We believe strongly that we can never, we can never be too vigilant in this work."

Thank you for your vigilance, Governor Pence.

Please take a moment to click here to send a message of appreciation to Governor Mike Pence. 

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