President Trump is going to sign an order that will allow religious organizations to refuse services to groups of people whose practices are opposed to their religious beliefs. In other words, organizations that deny their services to abortion-seekers, LGBTQ and other such groups will be given legal protection. Trump believes that this move widens the scope of religious freedom that most conservative Christians feel is being suppressed in America.
The order, “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom,” will extend government protection to any organization, even profit-driven corporations that are operated by religious bodies or for a religious organization. This can include schools, hospitals, pharmacies and other companies that are run by religious entities.
The basic premise of the order is that people don’t lose their religious freedom even if they are involved in social services, education or health. In the past, religious organizations were directed to make their services available to everyone without distinction and even if it would go against their religious beliefs. There have been cases where religiously run public-care institutions have fallen into legal trouble for refusing to cater to the needs of people seeking contraceptives, abortions and even turning away people from the LGBTQ. Last year, for example, The Little Sisters of The Poor, a Catholic order of nuns, had to go to court because they refused to accept the HHS mandate.
The order also makes it clear that these religious institutions could not lose their tax-exempt status just because they refused services to these groups of people.
The Trump-led government has also decided to create a separate “working group” within the Department of Justice which will particularly look into instances where religious freedom has been violated. Religious institutions have been barred from denying their services to certain groups by Obama’s Affordable Care Act. This order, however, directs the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury to immediately provide an exemption to all these religious institutions, which means that these institutions will no longer have to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s guidelines.
Critics fear that if signed, this order would result in a number of people from the LGBTQ, and pro-choice groups losing their jobs on the grounds of religious differences. They point out that this concept of “religious freedom” will promote bigotry and discrimination in the US.