Appearing Monday on CNN, Republican
presidential candidate Rick Santorum called for passage of a federal
bill which would protect opponents of gay marriage.
Introduced June 17 by Senator Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho, the First
Amendment Defense Act (FADA) seeks to bar federal “discriminatory
action” against those who oppose such unions based on a “religious
belief or moral conviction.”
“The Federal Government shall not
take any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially
on the basis that such person believes or acts in a religious belief
or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the
union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly
reserved to such a marriage,” the bill states.
During his CNN appearance, Santorum
said that he would advise Kim Davis, the elected clerk of Rowan
County, Kentucky, to follow her conscience as she returns to work
after serving five days in jail for refusing to comply with a federal
judge's ruling ordering her to issue marriage licenses to all
qualified couples.
A lesbian couple was able to receive a
marriage license on Monday from a deputy clerk in Davis' office.
Davis remained in her office as the women were being served.
“Kim Davis has every right to say
that this should be a religious accommodation, and I believe that
the state of Kentucky, as well as the federal government, should be
passing things like the First Amendment Defense Act, which does
provide for accommodations for people both in government and outside
government who have religious convictions that differ with the court
ruling,” Santorum
said on CNN.
However, FADA goes beyond
accommodations. Under FADA, sending Davis to jail for refusing to
comply with a federal judge's order could be construed as a
“discriminatory action.”