Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on RFRA: 'We will move forward'

Indiana Governor Mike Pence
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Bowing to pressure over his state's controversial new religious freedom law, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) on Tuesday said he would call for legislation this week to ensure the law cannot be used to discriminate against gays.

"We will fix this and we will move forward," he said in a press conference.

Saying Indiana had a "perception problem" based on "sloppy reporting," Pence insisted the law's intent was never to allow discrimination based on sexual orientation. Rather, he framed it as establishing a "balancing test" for the courts to weigh alleged encroachments on religious freedom. Still, Pence said he felt a tweak was necessary to clarify the law's intent going forward.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"It's been a tough week in the Hoosier state, but we're going to move forward," he said.

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.