The Oklahoma Senate on Wednesday passed a measure designed to protect churchgoers from those seeking to disrupt their religious services.
Senate Bill 743, by Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Kellyville, passed by a vote of 31-15 and heads to Gov. Kevin Stitt for consideration. The measure was a holdover from the last session.
Gollihare said the measure was needed in the wake of incidents on Jan. 18 at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., and in March at his church, Blue Bell Freewill Baptist Church in Creek County.
In Minnesota, protestors last month disrupted a service as they chanted, demanding justice for a woman who was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. That church’s pastor also serves as an ICE field director.
Gollihare said individuals upset with his vote against an unconstitutional abortion bill showed up at his church before a service and told the pastor they were there to “admonish” Gollihare. They were asked to leave more than once before the pastor called law enforcement, he said.
The individuals told the pastor he and the church were “demonic” and called a woman entering the church a “witch,” Gollihare said.
He said the individuals were there to cause conflict, not protest.
They moved from the porch to another area and “harassed” and “harangued” those seeking to enter, he said.
“Some people looked at the scene and just left and went home and didn’t go to church that day,” Gollihare said.
He said people can still protest, but must do so within specific parameters. Anyone within 100 feet of a place of worship would be required to give worshippers a corridor of 8 feet, unless invited to approach.
“This is a protection of worship bill,” Gollihare said.
Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, a pastor who peppered Gollihare with questions, said the measure was an attack on free speech and should be struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, said the measure was “an extreme new law,” adding that she was afraid of the precedent it might set.
The measure needs better guard rails and definitions to protect First Amendment rights, she said.
The measure has an emergency clause and would become effective upon Stitt’s signature.
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