I just read the
Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, aka RFRA. This law isn't about refusing to cater for gay weddings. It's about life and death for many Americans It is about refusing necessities of life like medical care.
Here is just one example of dozens of imaginable horror stories possible under Indiana's sparkly new RFRA:
A passenger on a flight is seated next to a physician whose medical bag is under the seat in front of him. The two of them wind up arguing a bit about culture, the passenger being gay and the doctor being a born again evangelical Christian. As they approach Indianapolis, the passenger, reacting to inadvertently consumed nut products, suffers a sudden and catastrophic anaphalactic shock. The passenger quickly and quietly becomes unable to breath as the doctor notices and quickly intuits the cause of problem. The doctor has the drugs needed to give the passenger first aid, right at hand in his bag.
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, in all 50 states, even Indiana, the doctor may act to save this passenger without fear of legal or malpractice liability. Further, the doctor is ethically obliged to act in a life threatening emergency.
Instead, the doctor does nothing. The passenger dies. Upon landing, as the other horrified passengers realize what has happened, there is an outcry for justice. The DA files charges. The state medical board files an ethics complaint against the doctor's license to practice. The passenger's family sues for medical neglect and failing to save a life that could have been saved.
Come out to the tall grass to see what the Indiana RFRA has to say about the victims of the doctor's cruel neglect.
The doctor insists he did nothing wrong because he never treats gay people because God. He said it right into the camera at his press conference with his right wing lawyer at his elbow, you know the type, the kind who goes looking for cases like the Hobby Lobby Obamacare case, or files Birther lawsuits. Anyway, the doctor looked really sincere.
Enter the Indiana RFRA:
Sec. 3. (a) As used in this chapter, "exercise of religion" means
the practice or observance of religion.
(b) The term includes a person's ability to:
(1) act; or
(2) refuse to act;
in a manner that is substantially motivated by the person's sincerely held religious belief, regardless of whether the religious belief is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief.
* * * *
Sec. 6. A state action, or an action taken by an individual based on state action, may not substantially burden a person's right to the exercise of religion, even if the burden results from a law or policy of general applicability, unless the state or political subdivision of the state demonstrates that applying the burden to the person's exercise of religion is:
(1) essential to further a compelling governmental interest;
and
(2) the least restrictive means of furthering the compelling governmental interest.
Sec. 7. (a) A person whose exercise of religion:
(1) has been substantially burdened; or
(2) is likely to be substantially burdened;
by a violation of section 6 of this chapter may assert the violation, or impending violation, as a claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, regardless of whether the state or a political subdivision of the state is a party to the judicial proceeding.
So, before you can blink, the DA dismisses all charges, the State Medical Board drops its complaint and the Judge dismisses the family's lawsuit, awarding the physician his attorney fees and court costs against the bereaved family. Because a doctor in Indiana doesn't have to treat anyone he thinks God wants to let die.
It is not just doctors, either. It is also EMT's, fire fighters, police, lawyers, grocers, etc. And it's not just about LGBT. It is also about atheists, Muslims, scientists and it is even about race. The Indiana RFRA unleashes every sort of discrimination imaginable, with only the federal laws to fill in the few gaps covered there under the jurisdiction of federal agencies themselves starved for funding.
Try to stay out of Indiana. The RFRA makes it a sanctuary for crackpots and less safe than other places.