Now that House Bill 279 has been overwhelmingly approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee 9-2, it will now be sent to the full Senate to be considered.
The essence of the law would provide more freedom for religious belief, allowing those with "sincerely held" beliefs to not have to obey state laws that contradict them.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court and the Kentucky Supreme Court become activist in nature, changing their interpretations concerning religious freedom in a number of cases brought before them, it was considered necessary to put this new bill into effect to countermand that.
Per the bill, it would force the government to prove "by clear and convincing evidence that it has a compelling governmental interest in infringing the specific act or refusal to act and has used the least restrictive means to further that interest."
In other words the bill is raising the bar so government can't sloppily use activist interpretations of the law to coincide with its own wishes. There must be a "compelling" interest in order for the government to override religious beliefs. That's a good thing, and is sure to be passed in the Senate.
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