Majority of Americans Support Religious Freedom, Oppose Key Provisions of So-Called 'Equality Act'

The results of a new national telephone and online survey released Tuesday finds an overwhelming majority of Americans support religious freedom. 

The poll finds 82 percent of Americans believe freedom of religion is important to a healthy American society, and only 9 percent said it's not important, according to the poll conducted by Summit Ministries and Rasmussen Reports. 

Digging deeper into the issue, 67% of Americans say freedom of religion is very important to a healthy American society, while 15% of Americans say freedom of religion is somewhat important to a healthy U.S. society.

Another key finding from the poll data: There's broad bipartisan support for religious freedom in the U.S.:

• 86% of Republicans say freedom of religion is very important or somewhat important to a healthy American society
• 83% of Independents say freedom of religion is very important or somewhat important
• 79% of Democrats say freedom of religion is very important or somewhat important

The survey also found that only 20% of Americans say churches and faith-based charities should be required by law to hire people who oppose their religious beliefs. 

The results show 50% of Americans say churches and faith-based charities should not be required by law to hire people who oppose their religious beliefs, while 30% of Americans are not sure. 

The poll also affirmed that among Americans there's wide bipartisan support for protecting the hiring freedoms for religious institutions: 

• 60% of Republican voters say churches and faith-based charities should not be required by law to hire people who oppose their religious beliefs
• 54% of Independent voters say churches and faith-based charities should not be required to do so
• 37% of Democrat voters say churches and faith-based charities should not be required to do so, 28% say they should be legally required

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"This research affirms that the American people overwhelmingly support the continued protection of the Constitutional right of freedom of religion, and oppose policies requiring churches and faith-based charities and organizations to compromise their deeply-held religious beliefs," said Dr. Jeff Myers of Summit.org. 

"Yet, leaders in Washington, DC are aggressively pushing forward on legislative measures such as the mislabeled Equality Act, which specifically strips away religious freedom protections. In an era of hyper-partisanship, freedom of religion retains broad, bi-partisan support among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents," he continued. 

Are You Concerned About the Equality Act? Check Out CBN’s Faith In Action Petition to Defend Religious Liberty!

The data were obtained from surveys conducted June 16th thru June 17th of 1,000 likely voters. The margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced in May that he'd like the Senate to take up the Equality Act. The House passed the bill in February. 

The Washington Post reported Sunday that at present, the legislation has stalled in the Senate.  Senate aides say there are no immediate plans to vote on the Equality Act. 

With long-existing filibuster rules still in place, most legislation, including the Equality Act, would need 60 votes to in order to pass. Democrats would need 10 Republicans to pass the bill, just like they did with the "For the People Act," a so-called voting rights bill that was blocked by Republicans on Tuesday. 

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), one of two openly gay senators, told the Post she was "still trying to find 10 Republicans." 

As CBN News has previously reported, the Equality Act would provide for abortion on demand, likely end a longstanding prohibition on taxpayer-funded abortions, and remove conscience protections for doctors and nurses.

Under the bill, biological men would be allowed to compete in women's sports, effectively obliterating Title IX, while girls and women would be forced to share locker rooms and bathrooms in schools and public places.

The measure also considers Christian beliefs to be unlawful and disagreement to be discrimination. Churches could be prevented from requiring employees to abide by their biblical beliefs about marriage and differences between men and women.