Indiana hurries to clarify

Discrimination still illegal, governor insists

“Was I expecting this kind of backlash? Heavens, no,” Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said Tuesday at a news conference in Indianapolis.
“Was I expecting this kind of backlash? Heavens, no,” Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said Tuesday at a news conference in Indianapolis.

Facing a national uproar over a religious freedom law, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana said Tuesday that he wanted the measure clarified by week's end, even as he stepped up a vigorous defense of the law, rejecting claims that it would allow businesses to deny services to gays.

"I've come to the conclusion that it would be helpful to move legislation this week that makes it clear that this law does not give businesses the right to discriminate against anyone," Pence, a Republican, said at a news conference in Indianapolis.

He acknowledged that the law, called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, had become a threat to the state's reputation and economy, with companies and organizations signaling that they would boycott or avoid Indiana in response to it. Pence said he had been on the phone with business leaders from around the country, adding, "We want to make it clear that Indiana's open for business."

But the governor defended the law and the intent behind it, saying, "We've got a perception problem," not one of substance. He referred to "gross mischaracterizations," "reckless reporting by some in the media," "completely false and baseless" accounts of the law, and "the smear that's been leveled against this law and against the people of Indiana."

State Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, a Republican, said lawmakers were negotiating a clarification proposal that he hoped would be ready for public release today, followed by a vote Thursday before sending the package to the governor.

"We have a sense that we need to move quickly out here and be pretty nimble," Long said. "But right now, we don't have consensus on the language."

The governor also said he could not say what form that clarification might take.

"The language is still being worked out," he said.

Indiana's law has set off a firestorm, with both critics and some supporters saying it would allow businesses to refuse to serve gay customers if doing so would offend their religious beliefs.

Days before the NCAA is to hold the men's basketball Final Four in Indianapolis, the group's president, Mark Emmert, said Tuesday that the new law "strikes at the core values of what higher education in America is all about." The city's mayor, Greg Ballard, a Republican, and the state Chamber of Commerce have called on lawmakers to change the statute.

Business executives, notably leaders of tech companies such as Apple and Yelp, have spoken out against the law, and Angie's List cited the law in canceling plans to expand its facilities in Indianapolis. Celebrities have ridiculed the law, entertainers have canceled tour dates in the state because of it, a gaming convention is considering going elsewhere, and the governors of Connecticut, New York and Washington have imposed bans on state-funded travel to Indiana.

Several Republican presidential contenders have spoken out in favor of Indiana's law, which could affect the presidential hopes of Pence himself. The law risks alienating centrists who favor gay rights, but backing away from it could anger Christian conservatives.

The uproar in Indiana has drawn attention to similar bills working their way through other legislatures. Lawmakers in Arkansas passed such a bill Tuesday, while Republican Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina said he would veto a similar bill there.

Pence said Tuesday: "If this law had been about discrimination, I would have vetoed it. I don't believe for a minute that it was the intention of the General Assembly to create a license to discriminate, or a right to deny services to gays, lesbians or anyone else in this state, and that was not my intent, but I appreciate that that's become the perception."

But prominent anti-gay-rights groups have been among the biggest supporters of the bill, including the American Family Association, the Family Research Council, the Indiana Family Institute and Advance America. And some advocates of the law have disagreed with Pence, saying it could be used to defend a business' right to deny service to gay people.

Fellow Republicans have said the governor added fuel to the fire Sunday when he did not directly answer some questions about the law in an interview on the ABC program This Week, in particular a question about whether a florist could deny service to a gay couple on religious grounds.

"I could have handled that better," he said Tuesday. "But going into that interview this weekend, I was just determined to set the record straight."

Asked again about the hypothetical florist, Pence said, "This law does not give anyone a license to deny services to gay and lesbian couples."

"I believe in my heart of hearts that no one should be harassed or mistreated because of who they are or who they love," he added. But at the news conference and earlier Tuesday in an interview on Fox News, he did not say whether he thought such discrimination would be, or should be, legal under any state law.

Indiana law does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, but some of its cities have ordinances that do so. Gay-rights advocates have argued that the state law would trump those local statutes.

The law states that government should not take any action infringing on people's religious beliefs unless there is a compelling government interest to do so, and that it must use the least intrusive means to pursue that interest.

Defenders of the measure said they have been bewildered by the contention over the law, since it is patterned on a 1993 federal law of the same name, passed with bipartisan support and signed by President Bill Clinton, as well as on similar state laws.

"Was I expecting this kind of backlash?" Pence said. "Heavens, no."

But the Indiana law has some differences from the federal law, and most of the state laws, that critics say are significant.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Indiana measure marked a "significant expansion" over the federal law because it applies to private transactions beyond those involving the federal government.

The federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act arose from a case related to the use of peyote in an indigenous American ritual. But in 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal law did not apply to the states. So states began enacting their own laws. Twenty now have them on the books.

The Indiana law also contains a provision explicitly stating that it applies to the exercise of religious beliefs by businesses as well as individuals and religious groups.

The Indiana law prohibits any other laws that "substantially burden" a person's ability to follow his religious beliefs. The definition of "person" includes religious institutions, businesses and associations.

The idea that a for-profit business has religious rights and can cite them in contesting government action was not widely considered until recently. But last year the Supreme Court upheld that principle in the case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores.

Another difference between Indiana's law and most similar ones is that it says businesses can use religious freedom as a defense against lawsuits brought by individuals, not just those filed by the government.

Critics have said the provisions amount to permission for business owners to discriminate against gays on the basis of religious beliefs.

Information for this article was contributed by Richard Perez-Pena of The New York Times and by Tom Davies, Kathleen Ronayne and staff members of The Associated Press.

A Section on 04/01/2015

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