wfn.org | Religious Liberty Prot. Act Passed by U.S. House of Representatives

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

August 13, 1999
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
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Religious Liberty Protection Act Passed by United States House of 
Representatives

Washington, D.C., USA/ANN/APD   On July 15, the Religious Liberty 
Protection Act (RLPA) was passed by the United States House of 
Representatives in a vote of 306 to 118.  The bill now goes to the 
United States Senate, where opposition is expected to center on an 
amendment, defeated in the House, that would limit RLPA's 
application to civil rights laws.

RLPA is intended to restore the level of protection to free exercise of 
religion claims in the United States to standards established before 
1990.   Prior to that year, the government was required to show 
that any action burdening the practice of religion was necessitated 
by a compelling interest.  In a 1990 case, however, the Supreme 
Court largely abandoned that standard, holding that no religion-
based exemption need be given to a law that is facially neutral and 
generally applicable. 

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), which was 
supported by Seventh-day Adventists, sought to reinstate the 
pre-1990 standard, but the Supreme Court ruled that RFRA 
was unconstitutional as applied to the states. The current 
Religious Liberty Protection Act is the latest attempt to 
strengthen the protection of free exercise of religion. Support 
for both RFRA and now RLPA has come from a wide coalition 
of religious groups, including the General Conference 
of Seventh-day Adventists and Council on Religious Freedom.

At issue in the Senate will be the question of whether religious 
belief should constitute a valid defense to violation of a civil rights 
law.  The question arose after landlords in three states were 
charged with marital status discrimination for refusing, based on 
religious belief, to rent their premises to unmarried couples.   
[98/12/05]