DES MOINES, Iowa — A bill Gov. Kim Reynolds deemed the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act", which allows Iowans who believe their religion has been "substantially burdened" to seek damages in court, is now law.
Reynolds signed the legislation at conservative group The FAMiLY Leader’s “Family Champion Dinner” on Tuesday.
"They've advocated for this bill for a long, long time and they wanted the freedom to be able to express what was important to them," Reynolds said. "So, they asked if we would consider signing it there and we did, there was a lot of people, it was a night that they really represented or championed legislators."
Under the law, Iowans, churches and other organizations can seek "damages, injunctive relief, or other appropriate redress" if forced to act outside of their religious beliefs by city, county or state entities.
Exercising one's religion includes the ability to refuse to do anything "substantially motivated by one's sincerely held religious belief, whether or not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief", as defined in the bill, allowing for a broad legal interpretation.
The bill states that the city is allowed to do anything they feel is appropriate to protect religious rights.
Supporters believe SF 2095 will strengthen religious rights in the state, while opponents believe it will allow prejudice to go unchecked and could be dangerous for certain communities.
Rep. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque, claims the bill is not about religious freedom at all, but discrimination aided by nonspecific language.
"This bill opens the door for a business to deny services to an LGBTQ+ patron, a landlord to evict a single mom from because she’s not married, for a pharmacist to deny a birth control prescription on religious grounds," James said in a statement.
Senate Democrats also spoke out against the law, claiming Iowans don't want this.
“Tonight, Gov. Kim Reynolds went behind closed doors to sign into law an unjust, discriminatory bill,” said Sen. Janice Weiner, D-Johnson. “It may help her politically, but it will hurt Iowans and undermine economic opportunity in our state. Iowans don’t want legalized discrimination."
Gov. Kim Reynolds shared the following statement about the legislation:
“Thirty years ago, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed almost unanimously at the federal level. Since then, religious rights have increasingly come under attack. Today, Iowa enacts a law to protect these unalienable rights—just as twenty-six other states have done—upholding the ideals that are the very foundation of our country.”
The law has an immediate effect date, meaning the bill is now currently an enforceable law.