State lawmaker’s revival of Georgia ‘religious freedom’ legislation sparks civil rights concerns

A new push for greater religious protections in Georgia has revived one of the most bitterly debated measures under the Gold Dome and renewed calls for a state-level nondiscrimination law.

State Sen. Ed Setzler, an Acworth Republican who sponsored the state’s 2019 abortion law, has filed a bill that would extend federal protections passed in 1993 to the state and local level, which he argues would protect religious Georgians from unfair government intrusion.

His bill is a pared down version of a bill that former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed in 2016 in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling after major companies threatened to boycott Georgia.