Des Moines, IA — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds today signed a bill into law that protects discriminatory actions and denies individual rights based on a person’s religious beliefs and mirrors a similar federal law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA.
SF 2095 is part of a coordinated effort to take away the rights of some people, including women and LGBTQ people. It threatens access to social services, health care, and employment for all Iowans.
The federal act has already been used to deny employees of Hobby Lobby insurance coverage for birth control, allow a funeral home to violate the federal civil rights law and fire an employee for violating its dress code, and allow a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to refuse to cooperate in an investigation of child labor law violations.
“By signing this bill, the governor and Republican lawmakers who passed it are saying it’s OK to discriminate against our neighbors and then mask it as protecting our right to religious freedom,” said Mazie Stilwell, Public Affairs Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa. “Let me be clear—this is not about protecting religious freedom. But, rather, it’s part of a larger, harmful campaign to push a political agenda against the rights of LGBTQ+ people, women and other marginalized communities and should be seen as just that—not a protection but an attack. With the stroke of her pen, Gov. Reynolds has taken Iowa back decades, harming not only current but future generations.”
###
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa (PPAI) is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a mission of fostering and preserving a social and political climate favorable to reproductive health. To meet this mission, PPAI engages in lobbying, issues education, and supporter mobilization.
Tags: