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Religious Imposition

This law topic summary was last updated on: December 13, 2018

Religious Imposition laws cover a range of legislation designed to shield private individuals and businesses from complying with nondiscrimination laws and to affirmatively deny services such as employment, housing, and reproductive health care based on a religious objection to that service. Religious Imposition laws exist on both the federal and the state level and take the form of Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs), which create a statutory model for those with religious objections to laws of general applicability like the Affordable Care Act to avoid compliance with those laws based on religious objection.

Other Religious Imposition laws take the form of conscience-refusal laws that permit civil servants, health-care workers, and others to deny services or products based on a moral or religious objection to the person serviced or the product requested. Still other forms of Religious Imposition laws—such as anti-transgender legislation—target specific groups and seek to shield businesses and individuals from actions that would otherwise be discriminatory on the basis of a religious or moral objection to LGBTQ individuals.

These maps illustrate how Religious Imposition laws are sweeping through state legislatures across the nation.

The first map shows all activity in states related to Religious Imposition laws. The darker the color, the more Religious Imposition legislative activity in that state. Hover over a state to get more detail and click to see all Religious Imposition related laws for that state.

In the second set of maps you can see at a glance which states have laws that have been passed by state legislatures and are currently in effect.

Database includes all anti-LGBTQ bills introduced since the 2015 legislative session.

Religious Imposition Related Articles

 

Wyoming Colorado

Senate 35

16   19

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 11

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming District of Columbia

0

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database none

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming Federal

0

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database none

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming Nevada

Senate 21

8   13

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 3

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming New Hampshire

Senate 0

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 5

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming New Jersey

Senate 40

15   25

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 3

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming New York

Senate 0

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 5

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming Oklahoma

House 100

76   24

Senate 0

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 35

1 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Related to: Religious Freedom, RFRA

Wyoming Oregon

House 60

22   38

Senate 30

12   18

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 2

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming Vermont

Senate 24

6   18

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database none

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming Washington

Senate 0

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 17

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming West Virginia

Senate 0

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 8

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming Wisconsin

Senate 33

19   14

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 4

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Wyoming Wyoming

Senate 0

Total Religious Imposition Laws in the Database 5

0 Active Religious Imposition Laws in the Database

Least Active

Most Active

Conscience and Refusal Laws

“Conscience” or “Refusal” laws permit people and organizations to refuse to provide services, whether reproductive health care services or commercial services, if to do so would violate a sincerely held religious belief.

The details of these laws vary between jurisdictions, but their basic purpose is to permit people and organizations, primarily health-care providers and institutions, to refuse to provide abortion, sterilization, contraceptive services, training, and coverage under the guise of religious freedom. Variations of these laws also permit religious organizations, and, in some cases, public and private businesses, to legally refuse service to LGBTQ people based on the owner’s religious belief.

Some of these laws expressly sanction discrimination against LGBTQ people, by providing religious organizations special exemptions from laws barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Anti-Transgender Legislation

Following the Supreme Court’s 2015 landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges which affirmed that states cannot discriminate in benefits on the basis of sexual orientation and knocked down same-sex marriage bans across the country, states governed by conservative lawmakers began sponsoring laws targeting transgender people for exclusion from public spaces such as restrooms consistent with their gender identity. These laws spilled over into school district policy, though not enshrined in legislation, that forbids students from using bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity rather than their biological sex.

Many of the laws and school district policies are subject to litigation challenging their constitutionality.

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