Democrats re-introduce the “Do No Harm” Act to correct religious freedom overreach

Republicans use Christianity as a weapon, but this bill would limit their ability to cause faith-based harm

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When the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed in 1993, there were good intentions all around. Legislation to protect (real) religious freedom in the face of government intervention? Who would oppose that? The purpose of the law back then was to make sure Jewish kids could wear yarmulkes in school, that Muslim firefighters could have beards, etc.

A Christian cross in front of an American flag (Image via Adobe Spark)

Obviously, that’s not what RFRA is all about today, as Americans United for Separation of Church and State explains:

Since then, individuals, religiously affiliated federal contractors and even for-profit businesses have attempted to exploit RFRA to trump non-discrimination, health and safety laws. The most notorious example is Hobby Lobby, a national craft store chain with tens of thousands of employees, that used RFRA to refuse to provide its workers insurance coverage for contraception.

That’s why a handful of Democrats in Congress—Reps. Bobby Scott (D-VA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)—have re-introduced a piece of legislation called the “Do No Harm Act.” (It’s technically H.R. 1954.)

It adds a section to the current law that explains when the law cannot be applied. If passed, RFRA could still be used to protect religious freedoms, but it couldn’t be used as a weapon against less privileged groups in certain situations:

The actual bill can be tough to parse but the explanation is pretty straightforward:

The Do No Harm Act will preserve RFRA’s power to protect religious freedom, while also clarifying that it may not be used to harm others. The Do No Harm Act will amend RFRA to ensure that [it] is not misused to:

• Undermine nondiscrimination laws

• Deny access to health care

• Evade child labor laws

• Thwart workplace protections (such as fair wage and equal pay laws)

• Refuse to provide government-funded services

• Refuse to perform duties as a government employee

Rep. Scott even offered a recent example of how the RFRA law is misused:

The current Trump Administration is poised to supercharge the misapplication of RFRA through executive actions. For instance, on February 27, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14205 titled “Establishment of the White House Faith Office” directing the White House Faith Office to support federal agencies in providing training and education on the availability of religious exemptions.

The Trump administration is literally telling government agencies how to use religion to bypass the rules. Now these Democrats want to rein them in.

This shouldn’t be controversial at all—evading child labor laws!—and yet at a time when Christian Nationalism is running rampant and Republicans treat any criticism of their beliefs as religious oppression, it seems all but impossible to get enough votes for this bill to pass.

That doesn’t mean this bill isn’t worth introducing. It points to the priorities of a future Democratic-led Congress that is willing to pass meaningful bills (hey, we can dream). It also raises awareness of the issue. It pushes members of Congress to take a stance on the bill, especially if constituents call their offices. And it’s legislation that’s ready to go if and when we ever see a competent Congress and White House again.

Americans United is rightly celebrating the introduction of the bill:

Congress must stop Christian Nationalists and their political allies from exploiting the 32-year-old… Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to license discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, women, religious minorities, nonreligious people and other vulnerable communities. RFRA was intended to protect religious exercise, particularly for religious minorities. Originally supported by a broad coalition of unusual bedfellows, RFRA was never meant to be weaponized as a tool to circumvent nondiscrimination protections and deny people access to health care, jobs and government-funded services.

The Do No Harm Act will preserve RFRA’s original intent of protecting religious freedom while clarifying that it cannot be misused to deny people’s basic civil rights.

We thank Reps. Scott, Raskin, Cohen, and Scanlon and Sen. Booker for sponsoring the Do No Harm Act. We urge Congress to quickly pass this critical bill to ensure that religious freedom remains a shield that protects all of us and is not misused as a sword to harm others.

It’s a nice wish but it assumes Congress actually wants to protect us and not use religion as a weapon. In fact, harming us with their faith is exactly what Republicans want to do with their power, and they feel they have a religious and political mandate to do it.

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