WASHINGTON D.C.: The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) welcomed the introduction into Congress of the Do No Harm Act, an amendment to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
Introduced by Congressmen Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) and Bobby Scott (D-VA), with the backing of more than 40 civil rights groups, the Do No Harm Act would, in the words of Rep. Kennedy, “Clarify that no one can seek religious exemption from laws guaranteeing fundamental civil and legal rights. It comes in response to continued efforts across the country to cite religious belief as grounds to undermine Civil Rights Act protections, limit access to healthcare, and refuse service to minority populations. Specifically, the Do No Harm Act would limit the use of RFRA in cases involving discrimination, child labor and abuse, wages and collective bargaining, access to health care, public accommodations, and social services provided through government contract.”
At its heart the Do No Harm Act supports what the history of American legislation and case law has made clear: in a diverse, pluralistic society you cannot use your fundamental freedoms to inflict harm on others or to undermine their basic human and civil rights.
"The Hindu American Foundation supports the Do No Harm Act because protecting the sanctity of the 'Establishment Clause' should be the utmost priority of the federal government when seeking to prevent religious discrimination,” said Suhag Shukla, Esq. HAF Executive Director and Legal Counsel. “The Do No Harm Act will prove to be an effective roadblock for businesses, various institutions, and even government agencies that seek to circumvent a founding principle of the United States of America. It's now incumbent upon both sides of the aisle to ensure its passage."
In 1993, Congress passed the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act in response to a Supreme Court case undermining the
rights of religious minorities. In recent years, however, the
misapplication of RFRA has been used to deny health care coverage for
employees, claim exemptions to civil rights law, and complicate
justice in child labor and abuse cases.
Politicizing Bathrooms and Showers
Bill Donohue of Catholic League
comments on the "Do No Harm Act":
Two days
ago, Rep. Joseph Kennedy III and Rep. Bobby Scott introduced the "Do
No Harm Act." It is designed to gut the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act (RFRA) that ensures First Amendment religious liberty
protections for all Americans.
Why would any congressman
want to undermine religious liberty? Bathrooms and showers. Yes,
these two places are now in the sights of homosexual activists and
their ilk. Their agenda has led them, in short order, from the altar
to the john.
Religious liberty was so popular in 1993 that
Rep. Chuck Schumer (now a senator) and Sen. Ted Kennedy introduced
RFRA, and President Bill Clinton signed it. Even the ACLU loved the
bill. But now liberals hate it.
What broke? Kennedy and
Scott, and the ACLU, say that RFRA (and laws like it in the states)
has been "misconstrued," and is being used against men who
feel they're a woman, and vice versa. The logic is not easy to
follow, but I'll give it my best shot.
Once upon a time, men
thought they were men and women thought they were women, but not
today: some are confused. Stay with me, please.
Some of the
confused want to use bathrooms that belong to the opposite sex, but
since they feel they belong to the opposite sex, they want to use
those facilities. They would also like to shower with those of the
opposite sex—why not?—or with those of the sex they feel they
belong to. We're almost there.
What does this have to do
with RFRA? Religious institutions, under RFRA, can claim to be exempt
from laws that would force them to accommodate the confused. Which is
why those who have targeted the johns are pushing for the new
law.
"Keep your feelings to yourself" never made
more sense.