Religious beliefs and law a tough balance in NC

The heart of the religious exemptions debate is a clash between two fundamental rights: religious freedom and civil equality.

While Indiana continues to deal with widespread backlash over its Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the N.C. General Assembly is examining similar issues.

The state currently has laws allowing doctors to opt out of performing abortions and allowing parents to not vaccinate their children if they claim legitimate religious exemptions — and lawmakers are considering a bill exempting some magistrates from performing same-sex marriages, as well as a bill modeled off of the controversial Indiana statute. Both measures are currently stalled in committee.

Indiana’s original law afforded business owners the right to refuse service on religious grounds, which critics said could allow business owners to discriminate against same-sex couples. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has since signed a revised version that prohibits discrimination against same-sex couples.

“We consider both bills a direct affront to the civil rights of the LGBT community in North Carolina, and we support their rights to be productive members of society,” said Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality N.C.

He said North Carolina’s religious freedom bill would promote discrimination against same-sex couples and reflected an attempt to circumvent the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state.

“There is a small but vocal minority that is trying to subvert the court’s ruling in favor of marriage equality,” he said.

The gay marriage exemption bill, Magistrates Recusal for Civil Ceremonies, raises concerns about both civil liberties and the nature of exemptions.

Introduced by N.C. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, the bill would allow magistrates to refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Given magistrates are employees of the state, it raises whether public officials who swore an oath to the state can claim a religious exemption, said William Marshall, a UNC law professor.

“When the religious believer is a magistrate and has an official role in government, there’s the question of whether exempting them from doing their duty with respect to certain folks is providing those people with the protection they deserve,” Marshall said.

The state’s existing religious exemptions related to vaccinations have been contested in 2015. A bill cosponsored by N.C. Sens. Terry Van Duyn, D-Buncombe; Tamara Barringer, R-Wake; and Jeff Tarte, R-Mecklenberg, sought to overturn the exemptions. It was defeated in the Senate, but reflected an effort to tighten compliance, Van Duyn said.

“When you think of immunizations as providing a shield of immunity to disease in a community, in Buncombe County we’re developing cracks in that shield,” Van Duyn said.

Public health concerns focus on the concept of herd protection, or the protection that exists for those who can’t be vaccinated — including infants and those with allergies — when enough people have been immunized. Low compliance rates put vulnerable populations at risk of contracting diseases such as whooping cough and measles, said Elizabeth Hudgins, executive director of the Raleigh branch of the N.C. Pediatric Society.

The state also offers religious exemptions to professionals with objections to performing abortions on religious, moral or ethical grounds.

“It acknowledges the fundamental, constitutional right these individuals have to not participate in an abortion procedure if they have such an objection,” said John Rustin, president of the N.C. Family Policy Council.

Rustin said groups opposed to the statute are opposed to any limitations on the ability to obtain abortions.

Marshall said he thinks the interests of doctor and patient are balanced as long as women can find the services they need elsewhere.

“There’s a lot of debate about religious exemptions and when they should be allowed — it goes back a long way,” he said. “The question is whether or not there’s another person who can step in and accommodate both sides’ interests.”

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