SW News: The US state of Arkansas has reinforced its legislation defending people's and organizations' right to practice their religion. The Republican-controlled Arkansas House of Representatives approved the measure in a 78-17 vote, while it passed the Republican-controlled Arkansas Senate by a 28-4 vote.

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the ‘Conscience Protection Act,’ which forbids the state government from discriminating against a religious organization because of its religious identity or because of measures that are under a sincerely held religious belief.

For instance, the government is not allowed to charge an organization anything or deny it a tax break because of its beliefs. These safeguards can only be waived under extraordinary circumstances.

A person's opinions cannot be used by the government as justification for refusing them a job, a scholarship, or a promotion. A person has two years to file a claim for compensation if they believe they were the victim of such prejudice.

"Citizens should be able to stand up for their rights when the government prevents them from living and worshipping according to their faith," Alliance Defending Freedom's legal counsel Greg Chafuen said.

"The Conscience Protection Act strengthens Arkansans' religious freedom rights by bolstering existing protections in the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act and ensuring the government will not discriminate against religious individuals and organizations," said Chafuen in a statement on Tuesday.

The law guarantees that all Arkansans—regardless of their religious creed or political power—receive a fair hearing if a government action compels them to violate their religious views, he continued. However, the law does not determine who will win every dispute.

ADF noted the circumstance at the center of the 2017 US Supreme Court case Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer as an illustration of the unfair treatment suffered by religious organizations in the absence of legislation like the Conscience Protection Act. In that instance, the state of Missouri refused to reimburse a church nursery partially for a rubberized playground flooring material that was made available to other preschools just because the preschool is run by a church.

In ruling that “the exclusion of Trinity Lutheran from a public benefit for which it is otherwise qualified, solely because it is a church, is odious to our Constitution..., and cannot stand," the US Supreme Court took the side of the church.

Chafuen praised Sanders and the Arkansas General Assembly for ensuring freedom of religion is protected for all Arkansans.