FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 1st, 2024
IOWA ATHEISTS AND FREETHINKERS DENOUNCE IOWA’S RFRA LAW
IAF denounces the recently passed SF 2095 legislation that is enroute to the govornors desk. Iowa’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act is simply a license to pick and choose which laws may or may not apply to an entity. Included in the bill is language that states “exercise of religion’ is “any practice or observance of religion” and that “the state shall not substantially burden a person’s religious exercise…unless the government demonstrates that the burden is of compelling governmental interest”. What this means is that the bill gives the state the right and power to arbitrate what a religious exercise is, what a burden to that exercise is, and absolves any responsibility of the religious claimant to observe the same laws that would otherwise by observed by a non-religious entity or non-religious justification. Essentially this law enshrines protections specifically for religious persons and entities-whatever that may or may not be – that would otherwise not apply to secular arguments and entities.
Historically, this religious exercise carve-out from equal treatment under the law has been used to skirt civil rights legislation, avoid transparency laws, and encourages the state to favor religion over irreligion as justification for state action. Under this legislation it is left wide open to define what is and is not an acceptable “religious exercise”. This is intentionally left vague and blank: if a religious belief, and what is “sincerely held” about them, is left vague, then it is left to the courts to determine what would fall under a burden to them. Even included is language that states “whether that exercise is central to a larger system” and that it isn’t the effect of those beliefs that matter, but how “sincerely” they are held. This means that the state is not only compelling religious belief in order to gain additional special protections, but the state itself can then arbitrate what those beliefs are and how ‘sincerely’ they are held. This unnecessarily entangles the state with religion. Right in the language of the bill, SF 2095 gives extensive latitude to religious belief by prohibiting a county or city from “enacting a private or civil law that would burden a person’s free exercise”. One has to wonder if equal housing laws, access to healthcare, or even the right to address a local government would be circumvented by such ‘burdens’. Ultimately this will mean that an individual or entity can make a claim of religious ‘burden’ from observing laws even if that burden is not demonstrated by a larger belief, even if there is no evidence or justification, even if it results in the discrimination of others because they are ‘sincerely’ believing they are exempt from a law.
Besides being ultimately used as a tool to avoid observance of laws, this is in direct violation of the Iowa Constitution, Article 1, section 3: “The General Assembly shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. This legislation is inherently unconstitutional, favors religion over not only irreligion, but over secular reasonings by religious people, and is a bad solution in search of a problem. Despite multiple examples and explanations of the harm such a bill has and will continue to have on the preservation of the rights of Iowans, this bill has been sent to the govornors desk for signing. Please call the govornors office and demand a veto on this bill. Call the governor’s office at 515-281-5211.
Jason Benell
President
Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers
