Phoenix, Ariz.- Republican Gov. Jan Brewer faces intensifying pressure this week from CEOs, politicians in Washington and state lawmakers in her own party to veto a bill that would allow business owners with strongly held religious beliefs to deny service to lesbians and gays.
Senate Bill 1062 has set off a political firestorm since the Arizona Legislature passed it on Feb. 20, with critics denouncing the measure as blatantly discriminatory and embarrassing to the state.
The chorus of opposition has grown each day, and three state senators who voted in favor of the bill changed course and said they oppose it. U.S. Sen. John McCain asked Brewer to veto the measure, as did Apple Inc. and the CEO of American Airlines Group Inc.
State Sens. Bob Worsley, Adam Driggs and Steve Pierce sent their letter urging a veto just days after they joined the entire 17-member Senate GOP caucus in voting for the bill.
“I think laws are [already] on the books that we need, and have now seen the ramifications of my vote,” Worsley said. “I feel very bad, and it was a mistake.”
Brewer has until Feb. 28 to sign or veto the bill.
The bill is being pushed by the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP), a social conservative group that opposes abortion and marriage equality. The group says the proposal is needed to protect against increasingly activist federal courts and simply clarifies existing state law, and derides what it calls “fear-mongering” from its opponents.
“The attacks on SB 1062 … represent precisely why so many people are sick of the modern political debate,” CAP President Cathi Herrod said. “Our elected leaders have a fundamental duty to protect the religious freedom of every Arizonan, and that’s what SB 1062 is all about.”
Similar religious protection legislation has been introduced in Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Idaho, South Dakota, Tennessee and Oklahoma, but Arizona’s plan is the only one that has passed. The efforts are stalled in Idaho, Ohio and Kansas.
