Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia decried having to “veto a so-called ‘religious freedom’ bill. It’s such an oxymoron,” on WTOP radio Wednesday.
The bill that McAuliffe vetoed is a short one, and simply states that religious organizations or clergy should not be required to participate in the solemnization of marriages and should not be penalized for their refusal to do so. Its language specifically aimed to protect the actions of those “with a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman.”
It is not uncommon for Democrats to question religious freedom legislation, saying that it goes beyond defending religious freedom and into anti-LGBT discrimination.
But religious freedom laws were not always controversial. The first Religious Freedom Restoration Act was a federal law signed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993. It passed through the House unanimously and through the Senate with a 97-3 vote.
That bill did not explicitly address same-sex marriage, but set the bar for the government’s tolerance for religious freedom very high:
The proposed Virginia law was still deemed necessary by some religious freedom advocates because the federal RFRA does not unilaterally apply to state and local laws.
THE WEEKLY STANDARD reached out the governor’s office but received no comment on what he meant by the Virginia bill’s religious freedom roots being an “oxymoron.” Regardless of the bill’s merits, the suggestion that the bill does not involve matters of religious conscience is not supported by the bill’s text.
McAuliffe continued to show his thoughts on social conservatism by saying it mitigates a strong economy: “At the end of the day, you can not grow an economy unless you’re open and welcoming to everybody.”
Upon celebrating the Supreme Court’s blocking of Texas abortion restrictions, McAuliffe said that Virginia was a few years ahead of the Supreme Court, and that these laws were enacted to shut down “women’s health clinics,” which, according to Gov. McAuliffe, “operate with no profit margin as it is.”
“I’m a very fiscally conservative, pro-business Democrat,” McAuliffe said directly before rebuking a bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly to scuttle government funding for Planned Parenthood.
