Ga. House panel cancels 'religious freedom' bill meeting

Jeremy Campbell and Michael King | WXIA-TV, Atlanta

ATLANTA — The Georgia House Judiciary Committee has canceled a meeting to discuss the "religious freedom" bill.

The bill passed the Senate and came to the House, where it was tabled.

Monday's meeting would have been the move to get it back on the table to be voted on Tuesday. It's not clear if the meeting will be rescheduled.

The cancellation comes as Indiana is dealing with backlash from adopting a similar law. Seattle's mayor is banning official travel to Indiana, while the head of Angie's List halted construction of a new facility in the state's capital.

Last week, a packed hearing at the Gold Dome focused on the "religious freedom" bill. It says the government can only "burden a person's exercise of religion … if it furthers the governmental interest," but does that protect religion or hurt it?

The debate on Tuesday inside the House subcommittee hearing came down to protecting faith versus preserving civil rights. The chamber was so packed, conversations with lawmakers spilled out in to hallway.

"There has been a whole lot of bad stuff done in the name of religion," said Rep. Roger Bruce, a democrat.

Paul Smith disagreed. He said he supports SB129 because it he believes it will help protect morality clauses within Georgia's Christian Schools. However he didn't get a chance to make his case before the subcommittee. It was too crowded.

"The chairman limited each side to one hour, so when our one hour expired they didn't allow any one else to speak," Smith said.

Former Georgia Attorney General Michael Bowers led arguments against the bill

"It will give the opportunity to exclude in the name of religion, and I think that's a disaster," said told the panel.

He said the problem is how the bill is written, allowing "all citizens the chance to interpret the law for their own benefit."

With just days left in the legislative session, Republican Sen. Joshua McKoon, who introduced the bill, has been lobbying to put it to a vote as-is, as soon as possible.