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Georgia House passes Religious Freedom bill after hours of heated debate
Summary
The House voted to pass Senate Bill 36, a state-level Religious Freedom Restoration Act, after several hours of partisan debate and advocacy from both supporters and opponents. Lawmakers raised concerns about potential discrimination and legal conflicts with existing statutes.
The Georgia House passed Senate Bill 36 on Thursday, adopting a state-level Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) that requires the government to show a compelling interest and use the least-restrictive means before substantially burdening an individual’s religious exercise.
Supporters said the measure simply extends the federal RFRA standard to state and local government actions. "This measure reaffirms a bedrock principle that no Georgian should have their sincere religious exercise substantially burdened by the government without a compelling reason," Representative Will Wade said on the floor.
Opponents said the bill creates a risk of legal claims that could be used to justify discrimination and…
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