Republican lawmakers in Kansas voted to revoke Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s order limiting religious gatherings to 10 people ahead of Passover and Easter.
The Republican-led legislature voted along party lines on Wednesday to rescind the order, according to the Wichita Eagle. The state has faced more than 1,000 coronavirus cases and 38 deaths.
“In our view, Kansas statute and the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights each forbid the governor from criminalizing participation in worship gatherings by executive order,” State Attorney General Derek Schmidt wrote in a memo.
Republican Senate President Susan Wagle said the order was an overreach on Kelly’s part, saying people had independently decided not to attend religious services.
“I think they were just very upset with the fact that the government was going to tell them that they couldn’t practice their religion,” Wagle said.
Kelly met the vote with condemnation, calling it “shockingly irresponsible.”
“There are real-life consequences to the partisan games Republicans played today,” Kelly said.
Many religious institutions across the country have closed to mitigate the spread of the virus, which has infected more than 400,000 people in the United States and killed more than 14,000. As some religious institutions turn to broadcasting services online, others have defied local orders on social distancing to hold in-person gatherings.
“We have faith,” Tony Spell, pastor of the Life Tabernacle Church in Louisiana, said. “Our church and people have extreme faith and deep convictions. That extreme faith tells us that we need to assemble.
He continued: “This isn’t about a virus. If it was, the thousands of people in the big box stores would be at home. This is a persecution of people of faith.”
