 President Bush |
The White House is warning that a pending piece of federal legislation to create new rights for homosexuals would push the boundaries on constitutionality, and President Bush’s advisers will recommend a veto if it does come before him.
The plan at issue is H.R. 3685, on which WND has reported.
As WND reported earlier, proposals such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would give special privileges to “gay” and “transgendered” individuals.
“If passed, the bill would grant special employment rights and protected minority status to individuals who define themselves based upon chosen sexual behaviors,” said Matt Barber, a policy analyst with Concerned Women for America, the nation’s largest public policy women’s group.
“It would force employers to abandon their First Amendment civil rights at the workplace door,” he said.
In a statement yesterday, the CWA thanked Bush for “signaling” a likely veto on the proposal. “This dangerous bill would pit the government directly against the free exercise of religion, a situation which is unconstitutional on its face,” Barber said. “Members of Congress should join the president and exercise their sworn duty to defend the U.S. Constitution by voting ‘no’ on ENDA.”
The White House “policy statement” on the issue said H.R. 3685 would extend employment-discrimination provisions to set up “a comprehensive federal prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”
“The bill raises concerns on constitutional and policy grounds, and if H.R. 3685 were presented to the president, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill,” the White House said. “H.R. 3685 is inconsistent with the right to the free exercise of religion as codified by Congress in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The Act prohibits the federal government from substantially burdening the free exercise of religion except for compelling reasons, and then only in the least restrictive manner possible.
“H.R. 3685 does not meet this standard. For instance, schools that are owned by or directed toward a particular religion are exempted by the bill; but those that emphasize religious principles broadly will find their religious liberties burdened by H.R. 3685,” the White House said.
“A second concern is H.R. 3685’s authorization of federal civil damage actions against state entities, which may violate states’ immunity under the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The bill turns on imprecise and subjective terms that would make interpretation, compliance, and enforcement extremely difficult. For instance, the bill establishes liability for acting on ‘perceived’ sexual orientation, or ‘association’ with individuals of a particular sexual orientation. If passed, H.R. 3685 is virtually certain to encourage burdensome litigation beyond the cases that the bill is intended to reach,” the White House said.
Social conservatives have depended on President Bush to either use a veto, or threaten a veto, to halt the advance of such societal-changing plans being assembled in Congress. He’s already expressed that there’s “no need” for “hate crimes” legislation which also would create special privileges for those who identify themselves with an alternative sexual lifestyle.
And Barber said the “religious exemption” being assembled is anything but. “At best, only churches – and essentially pastors – could be exempt from the provisions of ENDA, and that’s not even guaranteed.”
“All other faith-based organizations – even though which are tax exempt – would be discriminated against under the bill. Groups such as Christian schools, Christian camps, faith-based soup kitchens and Bible book stores would be forced to adopt a view of human sexuality which directly conflicts with fundamental tenets of their faith,” he said.
“ENDA would ultimately give liberal judges the authority to subjectively determine who qualifies for the exemption. It’s the goose that laid the golden egg for homosexual activist attorneys, and it would open the floodgates for lawsuits against employers who wish to live out their faith and even those who don’t,” he said.
Peter LaBarbera, of Americans for Truth said, “Failure to veto ENDA would be a devastating defeat for pro-family forces and a huge gift to homosexual lobbyists. Call the president …. and urge him to ‘please publicly pledge to veto ENDA … in any form if it passes Congress.'”
He said it is a dangerous precedent to install in federal law “rights” based on changeable homosexual/bisexual behavior.
“Homosexuality is not a ‘civil right,’ it is a human wrong – one that is redeemable as proven by thousands of contented former homosexuals and ex-lesbians. Our Founding Fathers, infused with a biblical view of fallen man, created limited government that sought to restrain the sinful outworking of men’s hearts … The law once punished sin (e.g., sodomy and anti-abortion laws), so it is preposterous to say that homosexuality affirming laws are necessary to uphold basic ‘constitutional rights,'” LaBarbera said.
The law as proposed would apply to any business with 15 or more employees and would declare “it shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer … to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment of the individual, because of such individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.”
LaBarbera said the law also could be used to defend placing openly homosexual and bisexual teachers in public schools.
“It must be remembered that top homosexual strategists now assert that their ‘moral’ claim (the right not to be treated differently based on their ‘sexual orientation’) trumps our religious/moral obligation to oppose homosexuality,” LaBarbera said.
Related special offers:
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“The Gay Agenda: It’s Dividing the Family, the Church, and a Nation”
Sen. Tom Coburn’s “Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders into Insiders”
Previous stories:
White House helped craft ‘gay’/transsexual rights bill
Bill requires hiring ‘gays,’ cross-dressers
President says ‘hate crimes’ plan unneeded
Will Bush veto ‘thought police’?
Christians in bull’s-eye in new ‘hate crimes’ plan
Congress debates ‘jail grandma’ hate speech
‘Jail grandma’ hate speech debate begins
Christian ‘hate sites’ blasted by Hindus
Christian belief a ‘hate crime’ under plan
Philadelphia 11 appeal free speech limits
‘Philadelphia 11’ told ‘gays’ limited speech
‘Philly 11’ win round against ‘gay’ group
