Religious Liberty Accommodations Act

Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act.
Mississippi Legislature
Long title An Act To Create The "protecting Freedom Of Conscience From Government Discrimination Act"; To Provide Certain Protections Regarding A Sincerely Held Religious Belief Or Moral Conviction For Persons, Religious Organizations And Private Associations; To Define A Discriminatory Action For Purposes Of This Act; To Provide That A Person May Assert A Violation Of This Act As A Claim Against The Government; To Provide Certain Remedies; To Require A Person Bringing A Claim Under This Act To Do So Not Later Than Two Years After The Discriminatory Action Was Taken; To Provide Certain Definitions; And For Related Purposes.
Citation	H.B. 1523
Passed by	Mississippi House of Representatives
Passed	February 19, 2016
Passed by	Mississippi State Senate
Passed	March 30, 2016
Signed by	Governor Phil Bryant
Signed	April 5, 2016
Effective	July 1, 2016; enjoined
First chamber: Mississippi House of Representatives
Introduced by	Speaker Philip Gunn
Related legislation
Mississippi Student Religious Liberties Act of 2013; Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act
Status: In force

Mississippi House Bill 1523 (H.B. 1523), also called the Religious Liberty Accommodations Act or Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, is 2016 state legislation passed in direct response to federal rulings in support of same-sex marriage.^[1] MS H.B. 1523 provides protections for persons, religious organizations, and private associations who choose to provide or withhold services discriminatorily in accordance to the three "deeply held religious beliefs or moral convictions" which are specifically outlined in the bill.^[2] These protected beliefs are 1) that marriage is and should be an exclusively heterosexual union, 2) sex should not occur outside of marriage, and 3) that biologically-assigned sex is objective and immutably linked to gender.^[2][3][4][1]

MS H.B. 1523 protects organizations, companies, and individuals that use any of the aforementioned "deeply held religious beliefs or moral convictions" to justify the choice to deny or offer several different types of services. Individual and organizational decisions that are protected under MS H.B. 1523 include—but are not limited to—issuing marriage licenses, granting adoptions, hiring practices (including state employees), healthcare coverage, housing agreements, as well as specific medical services (including sex reassignment surgery or conversion therapy).^[3]

After being passed through Mississippi legislature, H.B. 1523 was originally intended to come into effect on July 1, 2016; however, U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law on June 30. Three days before, he had issued a permanent injunction requiring government officials to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples regardless of the officials' religious beliefs.^[5] On June 23, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed Reeves' district court decision, holding that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit lacked standing to bring the lawsuit. The Fifth Circuit accordingly lifted the injunctions, allowing the law to go into effect. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case.^[6]