Recently, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed the new Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a law that supporters attest is meant to protect the religious freedoms of entities — including individuals and businesses. Many believe the controversial law opens the door for statewide discrimination against the lesbian and gay communities on the basis of religious freedom.

For businesses wishing to abide by the new legislation, the most dangerous element of the law is that it's still being fought over and is not written in stone.

Nothing settled

Although sharing a name with the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Indiana's RFRA is actually different than its federal counterpart in a few respects.

For one, Indiana's law guarantees for-profit entities or more specifically "a partnership, a limited liability company, a corporation, a company, a firm, a society, a joint-stock company, an unincorporated association" the right to "the free exercise of religion." This language holds a lot of weight as it allows companies and corporations the same religious protections as individuals and churches.

This type of language would have seemed entirely out of place, if not for the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores in which the Court found that companies could lawfully refuse to fund employee birth control on the basis of the Hobby Lobby owners' religious beliefs.

Secondly, the law states that a business's right to religious protection can be used in private lawsuits brought by individuals, as well as local or federal government entity. The law gives Indiana businesses rare power and protection against claims of discrimination.

Understandably, it wasn't long before opponents of the law expressed their concerns that the RFRA sets a dangerous precedent.

Backlash against the law's passing has been swift and widespread. With opponents from Apple CEO Tim Cook to Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman to the NCAA, there has been a groundswell of resistance to the law.

The culmination of media ire is the editorial board for The Indianapolis Star's vocal and uncompromising stance, exclaiming in no uncertain terms that Indiana must "fix [this law] now."

"We are at a critical moment in Indiana's history," the board explains. "And much is at stake. Our image. Our reputation as a state that embraces people of diverse backgrounds and makes them feel welcome. And our efforts over many years to retool our economy, to attract talented workers and thriving businesses, and to improve the quality of life for millions of Hoosiers. … All of this is at risk because of a new law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, that no matter its original intent already has done enormous harm to our state and potentially our economic future."

Protect yourself

Although it was written to protect the religious rights of businesses, owners would be wise to steer clear of such a political minefield, especially since the law is still in flux.

Following the recent backlash, Indiana Republicans will be looking to revisit the law for the sake of clarification. According to Indiana Senate President Pro Tem David Long, "This law does not discriminate, and it will not be allowed to do so." Along with state House Speaker Brian Bosma, Long promised that the two would encourage the Indiana legislature to adopt clarification measures to remove misconceptions about the bill.

Despite the recent flurry of negative press, as well as the legislative branch of his state government questioning whether the law should be clarified, Pence says that there will be no changes to the law.

During an exclusive interview on ABC's "This Week," Pence said the negative response to the law by the media can simply be dismissed as "shameless rhetoric."

However, he did note that "if the General Assembly in Indiana sends me a bill that adds a section that reiterates and amplifies and clarifies what the law really is and what it has been for the last 20 years, than I'm open to that."


Despite his hard stance, it wouldn't be surprising to see Pence waver in the face of such pressure.

Business should not blindly bank on enforcing a law that could be seen as more trouble than its worth, especially if those who created it are still tinkering with it. Discrimination against individuals of a protected group could run afoul of any number of federal laws that protect individuals of a different race, ethnicity, age, sex and/or sexual orientation.

According to The Indianapolis Star, which believes the law should be amended to address opponents' fears of the potential for abuse, Indianapolis human rights ordinances do provide protection for LGBT citizens. These ordinances have not placed an undue burden on businesses, so there is room for compromise.

This being the case, businesses should always be careful to err on the side of inclusion, at least until the dust settles on this contentious issue.