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By Ana Campoy
Arkansas legislators passed a religious-objections bill on Tuesday similar to the one enacted into law by Indiana, despite growing opposition from companies and activist groups who fear that such laws will lead to discrimination against gays and lesbians.
The Arkansas House approved the measure Tuesday afternoon with more than 60 votes in favor, in a series of actions to adopt amendments made in the state Senate.
The bill now goes to Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, who has said he would sign it, if the measure resembled laws passed by other states. A spokesman for Mr. Hutchinson said Tuesday he will comment on the bill on Wednesday.
A number of large companies--including Arkansas' most prominent employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.--and Apple Inc. have come out against the state's bill, saying it would result in discrimination. The mayor of the state's capital, Little Rock, as well as the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, joined the opposition on Tuesday, saying the bill would be bad for business.
Before the measure was approved as anticipated on Tuesday afternoon, dozens of protesters gathered at the state Capitol, waving signs urging Mr. Hutchinson to veto it.
During the short debate on the bill Tuesday, some lawmakers proposed to send it back to committee to be amended, pointing to the uproar in Indiana, where the state's law has led some critics to urge a boycott of the state. That outcry spurred Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Tuesday to call for the state's law to be amended by week's end to clarify that it doesn't allow businesses to deny services to gays and lesbians.
State Rep. Clarke Tucker, a Democrat, said the language of the bill is so broad it "opens the door to many kinds of discrimination."
But most Arkansas House members voted against the proposal to refer the Arkansas bill back to a committee.
"The bill is appropriate for us to pass at this point," said state Rep. Bob Ballinger, a Republican who sponsored the measure.
Supporters said the Arkansas bill is meant to protect individuals and companies from any state and local laws, including city ordinances, rules and policies, that substantially burden their religious beliefs.
Its scope is wider than similar legislation passed in other states and at the federal level, legal experts say, because it broadly defines the exercise of religion as any action or refusal to act "substantially motivated by a person's sincerely held religious beliefs," regardless of whether those beliefs are central to the religion in question.
It also allows those who claim to have been grieved to sue any entity under the law, even if that entity isn't a part of government. The law doesn't apply to employees seeking to file a lawsuit against private employers or the state's correction system.
Supporters of the bill say it is necessary to ensure that the government doesn't infringe upon citizens' religious rights.
Critics say the implications of the law could be far reaching, ranging from vendors denying service to gays to state health-care workers refusing to provide contraceptives to unwed women.
"It's far too broad and far too dangerous," said Kendra Johnson, a spokeswoman for Human Rights Campaign Arkansas, an advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. "We are not at a point as a society when we can trust people not to discriminate, unfortunately."
Unlike many other states, Arkansas has virtually no laws that grant special protections for gays and lesbians.
"There are no countervailing laws that would balance the religious liberties against the rights" of the LGBT community, said Danielle Weatherby, an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law who has studied religious-freedom laws.
Write to Ana Campoy at ana.campoy@wsj.com
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