Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal defended Indiana’s new religious freedom law — and left the door open for signing a similar one in his state.
“I am always in favor of defending religious liberties. Look, you are now raising issues regarding federal employment laws and benefit laws. Let me look at the details of the bill,” the potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I am, in general though, very supportive of defending religious liberty, and I think we can do that without condoning discrimination.”
According to Jindal, religious freedom and discrimination are not mutually exclusive.
“I think we can have religious liberty without having discrimination. I think it is possible to have them both, and it’s desirable to have them both in our society,” Jindal said, citing the First Amendment.
Jindal also argued that Christina businesses in Indiana are being discriminated against and that businesses should have the right to refuse services to same-sex marriages based on the owner’s religious beliefs — hence why he supports the Religious Freedom Restoration Act signed by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence nearly two weeks ago.
“We’re not talking about day-to-day routine commercial transactions,” Jindal said. “We’re talking about a very specific example here of business owners, of florists, of musicians, of caterers who are being forced to either pay thousands of dollars or close their businesses if they don’t want to participate in a wedding ceremony that contradicts their religious beliefs.”
“So, in that instance, yeah, I think part of the First Amendment means that we allow individuals to obey their conscience, to obey their religious beliefs,” he said.
When asked about his 2016 aspirations, Jindal said he would make a decision after the Louisiana legislative session — which begins April 13 and ends by June 11.
