(The Center Square) — Georgia ranked as the 30th best state for protecting religious liberty, according to a review of all 50 states.
The Peach State earned a score of 39.9%, ranking it just ahead of Nevada and just behind Idaho, according to the third annual "Religious Liberty in the States" from the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, an initiative of First Liberty Institute. The index explores legislation in all 50 states and how it protects religious liberty.
The project assesses 39 legal provisions safeguarding religious liberty that states can implement, including absentee voting, abortion refusal and excused absences from school for religious observances or instruction. The project aggregates the provisions into 16 "safeguards" and averages them to produce a state's index score.
"Georgia does not do very well compared to other states when it comes to protecting religious liberty," Mark David Hall, project director for Religious Liberty in the States, told The Center Square via email. "Indeed, it fell from 25th to 30th in the nation because it lacks several important protections we added to our index of 39 distinct ways states may, but don't have to, protect religious liberty.
"Georgia legislators should seriously consider passing a religious freedom restoration act and a general conscience clause to protect medical professionals," Hall added. "These laws would improve Georgia's ranking, but more importantly, they would protect the ability of Georgians to act upon their religious convictions whenever possible."
At 80.4%, Illinois topped the index nationally, ahead of Florida, Montana and Arkansas. Conversely, West Virginia ranked at the bottom of the list, behind Alaska, California and Vermont.
According to the project, lawmakers in the Land of Lincoln adopted most of its religious liberty protections between 1934 and 1998, an era when the Prairie State was more conservative. However, the state hasn't adopted new protections, dropping its score from 85%.
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