EGN NEWS DESK
(CP) For the second yr in a row, Illinois has ranked as the very best state for spiritual liberty as a result of it has essentially the most safeguards in place, whereas a majority of different states proceed to lack sufficient protections for folks of religion.
The Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy at First Liberty Institute launched its third annual Religious Liberty within the States report final week. The report ranks all 50 states primarily based on the presence or absence of spiritual liberty safeguards. For the second yr in a row, Illinois was ranked the very best state for spiritual liberty, whereas West Virginia was ranked the worst.
However, Illinois’ total rating of 81% marked a 4% drop from the 85% it obtained final yr. While West Virginia obtained the bottom rating amongst all 50 states, it noticed its rating almost double from 14% final yr to 24% this yr.
The report, titled “Religious Liberty within the States,” took 16 spiritual liberty safeguards into consideration when assigning scores. Illinois’ 81% rating displays the truth that it has essentially the most safeguards in place, solely missing protections for public officers who do not wish to carry out same-sex weddings, for-profit companies that do not wish to present companies for such an event, those that do not wish to carry out abortions within the case of a medical emergency, and protections guaranteeing that homes of worship are usually not compelled to shut.
Illinois has all different spiritual liberty safeguards in place, together with absentee voting for spiritual causes, normal conscience protections for healthcare employees, protections for healthcare employees who don’t wish to carry out sterilizations, protections for healthcare employees who do not wish to prescribe contraception, medical health insurance mandate exemptions for employers who do not wish to cowl abortions and sterilizations, in addition to protections for clergy and spiritual entities that do not wish to be required to carry out same-sex marriage ceremony ceremonies.
Additionally, Illinois permits minors to devour alcohol as a part of a non secular ceremony, has a Religious Freedom Restoration Act in place, permits exemptions to childhood vaccine necessities for spiritual causes and permits excused absences from faculty for spiritual causes.
Across the United States, essentially the most generally adopted spiritual liberty safeguard is exemptions to medical health insurance mandates. The following states should not have exemptions to immunization necessities: California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin missing full protections on this space. Only California, Connecticut, Maine, Mississippi, New York and West Virginia.
All however eight states — Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia — permit absentee voting for spiritual causes.
Exactly one-half of the states have a Religious Freedom Restoration Act on the books, particularly Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Only 19 states permit clergy to chorus from taking part in same-sex weddings: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Washington.
Similarly, solely 18 states shield homes of worship from compelled closure: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
Less widespread spiritual liberty safeguards embody normal conscience protections for healthcare employees, which solely Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina and Washington have in place.
Only 4 states permit public officers to recuse themselves from performing same-sex weddings: Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina and Utah. Mississippi is the one state that enables for-profit companies to choose out of offering companies for same-sex weddings.
Besides Illinois, different states that obtained a rating of at the very least 50% on the difficulty of spiritual liberty had been Florida (73%), Montana (66%), Arkansas (66%), Mississippi (65%), Ohio (65%), South Carolina (64%), Utah (61%), Washington (59%), Maryland (58%), New Mexico (56%), North Dakota (52%) and Hawaii (51%). Joining West Virginia within the backside 10 had been Alaska (29%), California (29%), Vermont (29%), Wyoming (30%), New York (33%), New Jersey (33%), Colorado (34%), Michigan (35%) and New Hampshire (35%).
© The Christian Post
