SB 916: An Anti-Freedom Bill for Discrimination & Lost Revenue

Senate Bill 916 (Schaefer - R) proposes alterations to the Missouri Human Rights Act that purport to protect religious freedom but in fact merely expand opportunities for discrimination. The language of this bill essentially removes all reasonable parameters for qualification as a religious organization, stating that any entity which “holds itself out to the public in whole or in part as religious,” even unaffiliated entities such as hospitals and schools, may discriminate against formerly protected populations under the tenuous guise of religious freedom.

February 19, 2016

Senate Bill 916 (Schaefer - R) proposes alterations to the Missouri Human Rights Act that purport to protect religious freedom but in fact merely expand opportunities for discrimination. The language of this bill essentially removes all reasonable parameters for qualification as a religious organization, stating that any entity which “holds itself out to the public in whole or in part as religious,” even unaffiliated entities such as hospitals and schools, may discriminate against formerly protected populations under the tenuous guise of religious freedom.

Senator Schaefer’s bill emerges as a clear protest against last year’s Supreme Court decision that rendered a narrow definition of marriage unconstitutional for its exclusion of lesbian and gay couples. However, Missouri’s Human Rights Act protects against discrimination on the basis of “race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age… disability, or familial status,” not gender identity or sexual orientation. As a result, SB 916 would not only fail to carry out its intended problematic purpose of limiting the rights of already unprotected LGBTQ individuals, but the bill’s impact would actually be even more expansive, permitting shoddy religious justifications for discrimination against previously protected marginalized populations such as women, people of color, and the disabled. Both in principle and in practice, this bill works to enable institutionalized discrimination, distorting the integrity of religious freedom for political purposes.

We have already seen the damage caused to state economies when discriminatory legislation is allowed to move through the legislative process. Indiana alone lost 60 million dollars in revenue when far right extremists pushed a “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” through the state legislature, not to mention the extra 2 million dollars spent on public relations in an attempt to restore the state’s reputation. Missouri deserves better. SB 916 is scheduled for a committee hearing on Tuesday, February 16. Contact your senator now and ask them to oppose this bill.

Originally posted by Sarah Nesbitt, ACLU public policy intern, on February 15, 2016.