Counseling bill is discriminatory

Sincerely held religious beliefs are not a license to discriminate, and yet they have repeatedly been asserted as such in recent years — often in response to gay marriage.

Legislation from state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, continues this unfortunate tradition. He has authored Senate Bill 85, which would allow psychologists, marriage and family therapists, counselors, chemical dependency counselors, social workers and behavioral analysts to refuse to provide their services due to sincerely held religious beliefs.

So long as referrals are made to other providers, there would be no disciplinary action or penalty for refusing to provide services.

We have the utmost respect for faith and the guiding force it plays in many lives. But while many of us hold sincere religious beliefs, those beliefs, and their underlying faiths, are hardly uniform. To deny services through wording so vague is deeply problematic and a Pandora’s box for all kinds of refusals. A referral to another willing provider cannot fix such potential discrimination.

Read more: https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/editorials/article/Counseling-bill-is-discriminatory-13509593.php