State lawmakers are being encouraged to form religious freedom caucuses.
The American Religious Freedom Program is hopeful the caucuses will be established in all 50 states. Spokesman Tim Schultz tells OneNewsNow the purpose is to fight for the issues related to religious freedom that many believe are under attack.
"And we believe it should not be only up to the courts to vindicate religious freedom, but also that state legislators have a role in preventing these threats before they materialize or at an early stage, rather than requiring people to go to court and spend a lot of money to protect their religious freedoms," he says.
Schultz contends there are three areas where religious freedom caucuses could successfully press for legislation.
"The first category would be a conscience protection," he explains. "That would be to protect people from government mandates that force them to violate their conscience; whether that mandate requires a pharmacist to fill a prescription for an abortion causing drug would be one example."
Another example would be repealing state Blaine Amendments that were passed in the late 19th century when bigotry against Catholics and Jews was the norm. Many states still have those laws in place, according to Schultz.
Finally, the third area would be passage on a state level of religious freedom laws to prevent discrimination against churches and other religious organizations.