New Virginia Law Is a Victory for Religious Liberty, Supporters Say

Fieldstone churches, such as the Mayberry Presbyterian Church, dot the Patrick County, Virginia, landscape. Courtesy of Victor Block

A new bill recently signed into law in Virginia will prevent the infringement of religious freedom, like the closure of churches during the COVID lockdowns, from happening again, by tethering places of worship to other “essential businesses.” Under the new law, if businesses like Costco and Target are allowed to remain open, so will places of religious worship.

Governor Glenn Youngkin this week signed HB 2171, preventing future Virginia governors from issuing any emergency orders that shut down places of worship while leaving other businesses open.

Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Greg Chafuen said this law is a good first step to ensuring that, moving forward, First Amendment rights are not infringed upon.

“While public officials have the authority and responsibility to protect public health and safety, the First Amendment prohibits the government from treating churches worse than shopping centers, restaurants, or gyms,” said Chafuen in a written statement.

“This bill takes the modest step of ensuring that officials cannot use a public crisis to discriminate against religious services in churches and other houses of worship,” Chafuen added.

Del. Wren Williams, a Republican who sponsored the measure, said he had to be very careful with how he crafted the bill so it would pass the Democrat-controlled Senate.

“I was able to really get creative with the language because that’s what we have to do around here,” he told The Enterprise on March 15.

“So, essentially, we’re tethering churches, places of worship to other essential or vital businesses,” said Williams during a February Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

William’s bill was authored in response to the extended lockdowns and executive actions taken by governors that stopped regular religious worship.

“This bill stems from that because that was something that really upset me and the folks in my district, which was not being able to go to church and fellowship at that time,” he said.

The Family Foundation called the law a “victory” for the First Amendment and restrained government.

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis was one of the first governors to deem houses of worship “essential services,” by signing a measure (SB 254) into law in mid-2022.

The spire of the Grace Episcopal Church on North Street in downtown Middletown, N.Y., on Sept. 13, 2022. Petr Svab/The Epoch Times

Meanwhile, many other states with Democrat governors like California and New York closed religious institutions along with some other types of businesses. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom halted indoor worship along with singing or chanting at religious services. Then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo limited the number of people at a service. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court determined New York’s 10- and 25-person occupancy restrictions violated the First Amendment.

During the debate over HB 2171 at a February hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, state Sen. Chap Petersen, a Democrat, said this right should be protected by First Amendment.

“We can say under the First Amendment whether churches have a right to be open under any circumstance. There’s been a lot of litigation on that. At a minimum, we could certainly say they’re [places of worship] essential to a community so I would support the bill,” Petersen said at the committee hearing.

Republicans criticized the fact that while churches were forced to shutter, liquor stores were allowed to be open. Some progressive Democrats pushed back on this argument, saying the liquor stores were allowed to remain open because they did not have groups of people in one place, and therefore did not create a health risk.

“The ability to transfer and get someone else sick was much higher if you stayed for more than 20 minutes,” said Democrat Sen. Jennifer Boysko “I don’t think you can compare the two.”

The final version of the bill passed with a 53–43 vote in favor of the measure.