Monday afternoon, Louisiana senators will be considering a bill that would carve out broad religious exemptions for churches in the state. Please take a moment to contact your senator and tell them that religious favoritism should not be part of Louisiana law.
HB 953 would play off the original response to Covid emergency policies that applied to churches, but the language of the bill goes much further. It would require the state to regard churches at least as favorably as any secular service or business, in all circumstances.
This tremendously broad language could arguably apply to any law a church does not want to follow for religious reasons. If the law included any secular exemption — for instance, exempting a farm or veterinarian from a law against sacrificing animals — all churches would need to be exempted as well.
