Bill Text: IA HF508 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act protecting religious liberty and state sovereignty relating to marriage.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 8-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-02-28 - Introduced, referred to Judiciary. H.J. 441. [HF508 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2023-HF508-Introduced.html
House File 508 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 508 BY SHERMAN , CISNEROS , STOLTENBERG , M. THOMPSON , DIEKEN , OSMUNDSON , GERHOLD , and THOMSON A BILL FOR An Act protecting religious liberty and state sovereignty 1 relating to marriage. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1688YH (12) 90 pf/rh
H.F. 508 Section 1. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY —— RECOGNITION OF 1 MARRIAGE. The state of Iowa recognizes freedom of religion 2 as an unalienable right and recognizes the institution of 3 marriage as a sacred religious sacrament that is inextricably 4 and fundamentally bound with free exercise of that right. The 5 state of Iowa also recognizes the deep historical and religious 6 roots that uniformly defined and understood marriage to be the 7 union between one male and female. Therefore, no resident of 8 Iowa shall be compelled, coerced, or forced to recognize any 9 same-sex unions or ceremonies as marriage, notwithstanding 10 any laws to the contrary that may exist in other states, and 11 no legal action, criminal or civil, shall be taken against 12 citizens in Iowa for refusal or failure to recognize or 13 participate in same-sex unions or ceremonies. 14 Sec. 2. RECOGNITION OF THE NULLITY OF CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS 15 RELATIVE TO THE STATE OF IOWA. The state of Iowa considers 16 certain elements of the federal Respect for Marriage Act, Pub. 17 L. No. 117-228, relating to the definition of marriage to be 18 null and void ab initio and to have no effect whatsoever in 19 Iowa for the following reasons: 20 1. Any attempt by the federal entity to erect a legal 21 definition of marriage plainly falls outside the enumerated 22 powers of Article I, section 8, of the Constitution of the 23 United States. 24 2. Any attempt by the federal entity including Congress 25 to define or redefine marriage violates the establishment 26 clause of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United 27 States. 28 3. The Respect for Marriage Act violates the tenth amendment 29 to the Constitution of the United States by encroaching upon 30 state powers that are reserved to the states or to the people. 31 EXPLANATION 32 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 33 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 34 This bill relates to protecting religious liberty and state 35 -1- LSB 1688YH (12) 90 pf/rh 1/ 2
H.F. 508 sovereignty relating to marriage. 1 The bill provides that the state of Iowa recognizes freedom 2 of religion as an unalienable right and recognizes the 3 institution of marriage as a sacred religious sacrament that is 4 inextricably and fundamentally bound with free exercise of that 5 right. The state of Iowa also recognizes the deep historical 6 and religious roots that uniformly defined and understood 7 marriage to be the union between one male and female. 8 Therefore, no resident of Iowa shall be compelled, coerced, 9 or forced to recognize any same-sex unions or ceremonies as 10 marriage, notwithstanding any laws to the contrary that may 11 exist in other states, and no legal action, criminal or civil, 12 shall be taken against citizens in Iowa for refusal or failure 13 to recognize or participate in same-sex unions or ceremonies. 14 The bill also specifies reasons why the state of Iowa 15 considers certain elements of the federal Respect for Marriage 16 Act, Pub. L. No. 117-228, relating to the definition of 17 marriage to be null and void ab initio and to have no effect 18 whatsoever in Iowa. 19 -2- LSB 1688YH (12) 90 pf/rh 2/ 2
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