ADF, Barronelle Stutzman to testify against Indiana bills in battle to protest freedom of conscience
Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Kellie Fiedorek and Washington floral artist Barronelle Stutzman, whom ADF represents in court after she was sued for her beliefs, testified before the Indiana Senate Rules Committee.
The two will address the dangers of two bills, SB 100 and 344, which would empower the government to force people to promote messages and participate in events that conflict with their beliefs.
“All laws must respect the freedoms of every citizen, no matter who they are,” said Fiedorek, who will be available for media interviews following her testimony. “The idea that all laws should be fair to every citizen should unite us on common ground. Every American should be free to live and work according to their faith without fear of punishment by the government. Laws that protect this bedrock principle are just; laws that don’t are unjust.”
“People in creative professions regularly have to make decisions about where they lend their artistic talents and the events in which they will participate,” added Stutzman, whom the Washington attorney general and the American Civil Liberties Union sued for declining to use her artistic abilities to design custom floral arrangements for a long-time customer’s same-sex ceremony. “For me, it’s never about the person who walks into the shop, but about the message I’m communicating when someone asks me to ‘say it with flowers.’ We should all have artistic freedom and the right to disagree without one side of a conversation being threatened by the government.”
photo Kauhajoki.vaakuna.svg
