It’s been confirmed by senior administration officials that Republican leaders will join President Trump at the White House on Thursday for what is expected to be the signing of the executive order regarding religious freedom. Thursday happens to be the National Day of Prayer, which Trump planned to celebrate with faith leaders.
According to the two senior administration officials, the order has yet to be finalized as lawyers are still reworking the document’s language.
Mike Pence has been pushing the order for religious freedom since he was governor of Indiana, where the legislation failed miserably.
The draft of the order was first leaked on Feb. 1st, and since then Pence and his allies have been working hard to rework and revise the document. According to Politico, a source who’s seen the document claims there hasn’t been much changed.
“The language is still very, very strong.”
The initial order would make it legal for employers and federal businesses to discriminate against LGBT+ people, by protecting the right to discriminate under religious freedom. In the eyes of religion, marriage is reserved for heterosexual couples, as well as abortion being deemed wrong and sex being assigned at birth.
If Trump signs the order, he’ll be signing it during a time where two-thirds of LGBT+ report that they have experienced discrimination. Furthermore, according to a Gallup poll, 63 percent of Americans believe that discrimination against gay and lesbian Americans is a “very serious” or a “somewhat serious” problem and a 2015 poll showed that 69 percent of 2016 voters thought that LGBT discrimination should be illegal. This bill would make the kind of discrimination that polls show Americans dislike a lot easier to get away with.
The bill can also allow health care providers to legally discriminate and refuse to treat LGBT+ patients.
LGBT+ organizations are fighting back against the order with #LicenseToDiscriminate, stating this order serves as a trojan horse and loophole for blatant discrimination.
Trump's rumored “religious liberty” order is a Trojan Horse for #LicenseToDiscriminate. We must keep fighting for #LGBTQ equality. pic.twitter.com/krS53GHzBY
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) May 3, 2017
