Several of the likely Republican candidates for president have spoken out in defense of Indiana governor Mike Pence and his decision to sign the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. CNN reports that several White House hopefuls, including Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, and Rick Santorum have voiced support for the law, which provides a test for courts on cases where individual religious expression is at odds with state or local laws and ordinances.
Former Texas governor Rick Perry, who is also considering a bid for president, weighed in on Twitter:
I stand with @GovPenceIN. Religious freedom is worth protecting. #RFRA
— Rick Perry (@GovernorPerry) March 31, 2015
Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, through a spokesperson, defended the principle of “religious liberty and real tolerance.”
In a press conference Tuesday, Pence defended the law but encouraged the Indiana legislature to bring up a bill to clarify that the law does not give businesses in the state a “license to discriminate.”
Here’s more on the GOP field’s reactions, from CNN:
“This is simply allowing people of faith space to be able to express their beliefs — to be able to be people of conscience,” Bush said. “I think once the facts are established, people aren’t going to see this as discriminatory at all.”
Rubio, meanwhile, backed Indiana’s law during an appearance on Fox News.
“Nobody is saying that it should be legal to deny someone service at a restaurant or at a hotel because of their sexual orientation. I think that’s a consensus view in America,” Rubio said on Fox News Monday. “The flip side is, should a photographer be punished for refusing to do a wedding that their faith teaches them is not one that is valid in the eyes of God?”
