BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—A recent press release from Equality Alabama urged voters to vote for equality.
The Freedom of Religion in Marriage Protection Act, House Bill 56, will likely come up for a vote next Wednesday, May 13, in the Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee. There was a public hearing on the bill Wednesday in that same committee.
HB56 instills discrimination into the Alabama Constitution by allowing public officials to simply not do their job under the guise of religious freedom. This harmful and discriminatory bill will allow them to decide who gets married and who does not based solely on personally held religious beliefs.
As it is written, judges will be able to turn away interfaith couples, interracial couples, same-sex couples and unions where one partner is a divorcee. [pullquote]HB56 instills discrimination into the Alabama Constitution by allowing public officials to simply not do their job under the guise of religious freedom. This harmful and discriminatory bill will allow them to decide who gets married and who does not based solely on personally held religious beliefs.[/pullquote]
Further, it will allow religiously affiliated hospitals or other institutions to refuse to recognize marriages it disagrees with. This would empower a religious hospital to refuse to allow a legally married spouse to make medical decisions for their incapacitated partner.
As Alabama faces a tremendous budget shortfall, now is not the time to pass reactionary, anti-LGBT legislation that is blatantly unconstitutional. Enshrining discrimination into law will bring lawsuits to the state, and expose Alabama to the national embarrassment that Indiana, Arkansas and Louisiana received when they tried to adopt similar legislation.
Alabama’s citizens deserve better. We must move forward. With your help, we can.
I urge you to contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee phone and tell them that discrimination is not an Alabama value, and to vote no on advancing HB56 to the full Senate.
PROTECT EQUALITY FOR ALL BY CONTACTING MEMBERS OF THE ALABAMA SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TODAY!
[From a News Release]
