(The Center Square) — Florida finished first nationally for its policies on the protection of religious liberty, according to a recent report from the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy.
The annual report, Religious Liberty in the States, measures legal safeguards for religious liberty in the US. The report says the Sunshine State protects 75% of the legal safeguards that it measures and uses to compare states.
Last year, the Sunshine State finished second and eighth in 2023.
“And if you go back to the founding of our country, religious liberty, what was basically the first freedom that the Founding Fathers sought to protect, and of course, religious freedom was part of the reason people even settled in the American colonies to begin with,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said at an event in Sarasota on Monday. “So this is something that is central to the American experiment. It’s central to our way of life, but it is something that has really been under assault in recent years, particularly over the last decade or so, and I’m just proud to say we have a strong record of protecting this first freedom throughout the state of Florida.”
Kelly Shackelford, the president, CEO and general counsel of First Liberty, thanked DeSantis for his commitment to religious liberty.
“Two years ago, Florida wasn’t even in the top five. But this year, Florida has vaulted in the first place, and that doesn’t happen without a governor who embraces religious freedom,” Shackelford said. “And so I just, I just want to say thank you to you for your commitment to religious freedom and for your incredible leadership and bringing Florida to number one in the country. Every citizen and business in Florida can know they have the most religious freedom protections than any other state in the nation.”
The fourth annual report expanded its index with eight new measures, increasing them to 47 and adding four more safeguards for a total of 20. The new safeguards include medical conscience protections that permit individuals to opt out of the disposal of abortion remains and participating in euthanasia.
Another safeguard would protect counselors from advising clients about goals, outcomes or behaviors that conflict with the counselor’s principles.
The report also added laws prohibiting financial and insurance companies from discriminating against clients because of their religious commitments.
Also included were laws protecting the rights of parents to opt their children out of sexual education, the right of student athletes to wear religious attire, and the right of current or prospective foster parents not to affirm, accept, or support any government policy regarding sexual orientation or gender identity that conflicts with their beliefs.
Some of the other safeguards listed by the report included state policies on absentee voting, general conscience, abortion refusal, sterilization refusal, contraception refusal, health insurance mandates, non-participation by clergy, religious entity refusal, public office recusal, for-profit business nonparticipation, clergy as mandatory reporters, houses of worship protected from closure, ceremonial use of alcohol by minors, childhood immunization requirements and excused absences for religious reasons.
Following Florida in the top five were: Montana with a 70.6% score, Illinois (68.8%), Ohio (66.9%) and Mississippi (66.4%).
The worst state was West Virginia at 19.6%, followed by Wyoming (23.3%), Michigan (27.4%), Nebraska (29.1%) and Vermont (29.3%).
The most improved states were Montana, with a 30.8% improvement over last year’s score, followed by South Carolina at 29.6% and Florida’s increase by 16.6%.
Three states, Mississippi, Kansas and Pennsylvania, had the biggest drop offs, with the Magnolia State having a 15.4% decrease in its score.
