A new ‘religious freedom’ bill in the Florida House would allow hospitals to turn away LGBTI patients.

Bill HB 401 was introduced by Republican state Rep Julio Gonzalez on Wednesday (21 October), and seeks to provide ‘immunity from liability for a health care facility or health care provider that refuses to administer, recommend, or deliver medical treatments or procedures that would be contrary to religious or moral convictions or policies.’

It also protects individuals, businesses with five or fewer owners, religious institutions and businesses operated by religious institution and adoption agencies.

The bill does not specifically mention sexual orientation, but it is largely seen as a reaction to the Supreme Court’s June decision which legalized gay marriage nationwide.

‘There have been various situations where there are increasing possibilities of subsections of society having their religious freedoms encroached on,’ Gonzalez told The Herald-Tribune.

‘Over time it became obvious to me we need to adopt some statutory protections.’

Gonzalez could find no instances of gay couples suing Florida businesses but pointed to highly-publicized cases elsewhere, such as the Colorado baker who is in court for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.

‘We have seen in other states the bakers, the photographers who don’t want to participate in certain religious events,’ he said.

Equality Florida condemned the ‘mean-spirited, discriminatory’ bill.

‘Freedom of religion is fundamental – so important it is guaranteed in the US Constitution as it should be,’ said the groups’s executive director, Nadine Smith.

‘But this extreme bill doesn’t affirm existing law; it goes much further than that. In addition to churches, it would allow individuals, for-profit businesses, health care providers, non-profit adoption agencies and others to discriminate against anyone they want, for personal reasons.

‘Legal experts say this bill is even worse than the disastrous Indiana bill that sparked a nationwide backlash. Indiana’s governor called a hasty special session to repeal that costly mistake.’