ATLANTA, Ga. – Lawmakers in Georgia’s House passed a controversial bill Wednesday that aims to protect people’s rights to express their religion, but that critics say could lead to discrimination.
Modeled after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the bill would prevent governments from impeding on someone’s religious rights in most cases and stop the enforcement of laws that conflict with someone’s religious expression. The Republican-led state House approved the bill 96-70.
But Democrats — including those who spoke about their Christian faith — said that without added protections, the bill will let people discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and religious minorities. Two Republicans voted against it, while one Democrat supported it.
The bill passed Wednesday is similar to a highly contested one that former Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed in 2016 amid widespread protests and concerns from Georgia’s business community that it would hurt their ability to attract employees and tourists. The Metro Atlanta Chamber opposed this year’s bill.
The RFRA law would offer stronger protections to religious Georgians from the state and from local governments, allowing them more room to express their religious beliefs, said the bill’s sponsor state Sen. Ed Setzler (R-Acworth).
“The freedom of religion has the lowest level of protection in Georgia,” he said at the Capitol Tuesday, pointing to a colorful chart and flanked by supporters. “We are the only Republican-led state in the nation that does not have these basic protections. This is not controversial, friends. All we want is the basic right to protect our faith.”
Setzler said 38 states have passed some form of RFRA laws, including some of the most liberal states in the nation. Georgia’s version, he said, is nearly identical to the federal religious freedom protection law and creates a legal balancing test for when religious rights should trump others.
“RFRA’s a balancing test. RFRA’s not an exemption,” said Setzler. “RFRA doesn’t exempt people from any laws.”
But opponents worry the law, if passed, could be used as an excuse to discriminate purely based on religious ideals. Some pointed to a 2018 case out of Colorado that made national headlines when a bakery refused to make a cake for a gay couple’s wedding, citing religious beliefs.
“This is a license to discriminate,” said state Rep. Esther Panitch (D-Sandy Springs). “State-sponsored discrimination, that’s what this is.”
Panitch, the legislature’s only Jewish lawmaker, is concerned that the RFRA law could be used as legal armor for people to carry out discrimination. While the federal version of RFRA includes a non-discrimination civil rights amendment, Georgia’s does not.
Panitch said she would absolutely vote for a RFRA bill that includes civil rights protections, but is strongly against the proposed religious freedom legislation that doesn’t.
“You just have to ask yourself, why won’t they incorporate anti-discrimination provisions if they say that they’re not going to discriminate?” said Panitch. “This will allow defense to people who want to harm Jews by saying, well, my religious text supports this.”
Setzler and his fellow supporters pushed back against that, saying the federal religious freedom act does include a civil rights amendment.
Kemp commended the bill’s passage in a statement and promised to sign it. The Senate passed the bill on March 4.
“The robust protections of our federal law and constitution provide better protections than we can provide at the state level,” he said.
The bill would theoretically protect all religious groups from Christians to Jews, Muslims to Native Americans. Even the Satanic Temple authored a letter of support for the passage of the bill.
“The passage of SB 36 would explicitly protect the rights of members of The Satanic Temple in Georgia to openly perform religious rituals, including Satanic Black Masses,” the letter reads. “It would also affirm the state’s commitment to allowing public celebrations of Satanic holidays, such as Lupercalia and Hexennacht, on state property — practices that have previously faced opposition from state officials.”
Panitch, an attorney, also wondered whether Jewish women could also claim the right to an abortion under the RFRA law, since Judaism states life begins at birth. Setzler is the author and champion of Georgia’s six-week ban on the procedure.
“So if a Jewish woman needs an abortion for her mental health, or her physical health, which is what Jewish law generally says, they should be allowed the same religious liberties as anybody else,” Panitch said.
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
