Do No Harm Act would address increasing use of religious freedom law to undermine civil rights protections WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and U.S. Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), along with U.S. Representatives Steve Cohen (TN-09), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), and Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), reintroduced the bicameral Do No Harm Act , legislation that would address the increasing use of religious freedom as a justification to undermine civil rights protections. The bill restores the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to its original purpose, which is to protect religious exercise while respecting every person’s civil rights. The legislation comes amid a sharp rise in the misapplication of RFRA to justify discrimination in a wide range of scenarios. The Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. permitted corporations to rely on RFRA to deny certain health care services to employees. In the Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County indicated RFRA could be a “super statute” that supersedes protections against employment discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . Last year, a District Court judge in Texas ruled that the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that employers cover HIV-prevention medication, known […]
