AZ Democrats who voted for Christian nationalist bills in 2022

Posted on by Secular AZ

This legislative session, the Arizona State Legislature heard 27 bills that advanced religious extremist causes—including those that sought to indoctrinate children in public schools, discriminate for religious reasons, and give religious entities exemptions from a sweeping array of laws and public safety policies. Several were signed into law.

An unprecedented 24 Democrats crossed party lines to pass three such bills. Below is a breakdown of the bills and who supported them.

Most all legislators noted are candidates for office in 2022, including those on the August primary ballot.

 

Religious privilege over law: HB2507

What it does: Amends Arizona’s civil rights code to declare all religious organizations “essential services,” and gives preferential treatment to these entities in matters when enforcing criminal and public safety codes.

Why we opposed it: HB2507 allows religious organizations—including, but not limited to hospitals, churches, social services, businesses, and hate groups—to circumvent a wide variety of laws by making religious exercise a defense in almost any lawsuit. This would extend even into prosecutions for crimes like violating nondiscrimination laws, sex trafficking, female genital mutilation, negligent homicide, and predatory grooming acts like administering drugs and alcohol to children.

Outcome: Signed into law

Democrats who supported this bill:

 

Coerced speech, school prayer: HB2707

What it does: Encourages teachers to have students say the Pledge of Allegiance—including the phrase “under God”—and hold a two-minute moment of “silent reflection.” It also burdens teachers with a requirement to “encourage” parents to instruct their children on how to use the reflection.

Why we opposed it: Recitation of the phrase “under God” in public schools constitutes religious indoctrination. “Silent reflection” provisions also create conditions in which children are coerced into prayer in classrooms by peer and parent pressure.

Outcome: Signed into law

Democrats who supported this bill:

 

Individual religious privilege: HB2449

What it does: Grants clergy special privileges to enter health care facilities and ignore their safety protocols, even during a state of emergency.

Why we opposed it: In addition to being harmful to public safety, this law creates special privileges for certain religious individuals without an equal guarantee for secular people or religious minorities. For example, nonreligious individuals are not allowed a visitor for end of life counseling under this bill, whereas religious individuals are.

Democrats who supported this bill:

 

We’ve created a helpful 2022 Legislative Scorecard where you can see the complete list of all legislators, their scores, and their full voting records this year on matters of church and state separation.