Indiana Gov. in WSJ Op-Ed: Religious Freedom Law Not ‘License to Discriminate’

Indiana Governor Mike Pence has an op-ed out in the Wall Street Journal tonight defending the state’s controversial religious freedom bill and insisting it is not a “license to discriminate.”

Pence argues the sole purpose of the law is to “respect religious freedom and apply the highest level of scrutiny to any state or local governmental action that infringes on people’s religious liberty.”

Of course, plenty of celebrities and businesses have objected to the idea of a law that would allow businesses to legally refuse service to gay and lesbian customers.

RELATED: Stephanopoulos Corners Pence over LGBT Discrimination: ‘It’s a Yes or No Question!’

The governor himself says he believes it would be wrong to deny gay people services and even says he would veto any bill that “legalized discrimination.” The reason why Indiana passed the law, Pence explains, is because of concerns over Obamacare:

Then in 2010 came the Affordable Care Act, which renewed concerns about government infringement on deeply held religious beliefs. Hobby Lobby and the University of Notre Dame both filed lawsuits challenging provisions that required the institutions to offer certain types of insurance coverage in violation of their religious views…

To ensure that religious liberty is fully protected under Indiana law, this year the General Assembly enshrined these principles in Indiana law.

You can read Pence’s full op-ed here.

[image via Mark Taylor/Flickr]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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