The US Supreme Court used the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act as the basis for its Hobby Lobby decision which allowed some private corporations to refuse to follow the ACA mandate for providing contraceptive coverage in health plans. A number of states have adopted versions of a state level RFRA. Now the Michigan legislature is considering a bill for an RCFA that would allow "freedom of conscience" to refuse to provide a wide range of services to gays, including emergency medical treatment. The bill has been passed by the house and is now in the senate.
Michigan House Passed Bill Allowing EMTs To Refuse Treatment To Gay People
Over the weekend, Republicans in the Michigan Statehouse passed a “license to discriminate” bill that would give just about anyone the right to refuse service to LGBT people if it conflicted with their religious beliefs.
The broadly written Religious Freedom Restoration Act would allow, for example, an EMT to refuse emergency treatment to a gay person or a pharmacist to refuse to refill HIV medication, because God decreed gays and lesbians should be put to death.
The measure is similar to one in Arizona that even right-wing governor Jan Brewer thought went too far and vetoed.
As The New Civil Rights Movement points out, the act is so broad it would let a Catholic high school refuse to hire a Muslim janitor, and a DMV clerk deny a new driver’s license to someone who is divorced.
This issue first surfaced with gay and lesbian weddings and service providers such as photographers and florists who refused to provide service to them. To many people that seemed like more of a symbolic issue rather than a serious practical disadvantage for people who would be able to get the same service from someone else. However, once you allow exceptions to the legal responsibilities under public accommodation laws, it opens the door to situations that could quite literally be life threatening.
This is part of an ongoing movement to define the freedom of religion contained in the first amendment as providing a license to evade legal responsibilities that go with the operation of businesses or professional practices. Right wing Christianity feels that its historic position of privilege is threatened and they are trying to cast themselves in the role of persecuted minority.