Texas Senate kicks off fight over religious exemptions

Opening what promises to be one of the most contentious fights of the 2019 legislative session, a Senate committee on Monday approved a bill to give state-licensed professionals — including doctors, lawyers, pharmacists and barbers — broad protection for actions taken according to their religious beliefs.

Opponents said the bill, and more than a dozen similar measures that have not yet been acted upon, would give religious people, particularly conservative Christians, the power to discriminate against gay, lesbian and transgender people as well as anyone they don’t want to do business with or serve.

But supporters of Senate Bill 17 — including its Republican author, Sen. Charles Perry — said the protections are needed to ensure that licensing agencies do not discriminate against religious professionals by forcing them to do something that violates their beliefs.

“Living our faith does not stop when we start to work,” Perry, R-Lubbock, told the Senate State Affairs Committee during Monday’s hearing on SB 17.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190325/texas-senate-kicks-off-fight-over-religious-exemptions