Caving to Conservative Pressure, GOP Leadership Agrees to Hold Vote to Protect Religious Freedom in D.C.
Kelsey Bolar /
After facing pressure from conservative lawmakers, House leadership has agreed to hold a vote on a measure that could strike down a Washington, D.C., anti-discrimination law that opponents say infringes on the ability of organizations to operate in accordance to their religious beliefs.
“We exerted a lot of pressure in the last 48 hours to bring [the measure] to the floor,” Rep. Bill Flores, R-Texas, told The Daily Signal in a phone interview, speaking on behalf of the Republican Study Committee, a group comprised of 180 lawmakers. “Fortunately, our leadership has come to the conclusion that it’s the right thing to do.”
The controversy surrounds a law called the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act, which ensures that “individuals are protected from discrimination by an employer, employment agency, or labor organization, based on an individual’s or dependent’s reproductive health decisions.”
Republicans in Congress are using a rare measure called a “resolution of disapproval,” which, with the support of both houses and the president, would overrule the legislation passed by the D.C. City Council.
The power to do so was granted to Congress under the Home Rule Act of 1973, which gives lawmakers the authority to review all legislation passed by the District of Columbia and overrule it with a resolution of disapproval.
Opponents fear the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act could force pro-life employers in the nation’s capital to hire individuals whose reproductive health decisions stand in opposition to the organization’s values, and could require them to cover elective, surgical abortions in their health plans.
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Supporters, like Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., criticize the attempt to overturn the legislation, arguing that without it, employers in the nation’s capital are free to “use religion to discriminate against employees for their private, constitutionally protected reproductive health decisions.”
In a statement to the press, she blasted efforts to overturn the anti-discrimination bill. “House Republicans are set on continuing their war on women, especially the women of the District of Columbia,” Norton said.
Flores, the Republican Study Committee chairman, said the battle between conservatives and House leadership to get the resolution of disapproval to the floor “was not pretty,” but applauded the decision that was reached.
“We couldn’t give up,” he said. “The First Amendment rights of Americans, whether you live in D.C. or any other state, are incredibly important.”
Norton says Capitol Hill lawmakers are violating “the local democratic rights of 650,000 District residents by overturning a local law that matches our citizens’ local interests,” and vowed to continue fighting against the resolution.
House leadership scheduled the vote for this Friday, just days before the May 4 deadline Congress has to act before the law takes effect.
The Senate has not yet scheduled its own vote on the resolution of disapproval. If it passes the Senate, President Obama would then decide whether to sign off on it.