Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) are leading a bipartisan effort to protect Americans’ First Amendment right to worship and freedom of religion.
The Right to Worship Act establishes a narrowly tailored 100-foot protection zone against conduct that disrupts scheduled religious services or impedes attendance, while protecting peaceful, non-disruptive First Amendment activity. It applies only within one hour before or after a service and provides escalating fines and a private right of action.
Although a guaranteed constitutional right for every American, Sen. Cruz said organized acts of hate increasingly threaten the right to worship.
“In recent years, we have seen organized acts of hate meant to disrupt and deny that right, which have been untenably defended as speech,” Sen. Cruz said.
Sen. Slotkin said the legislation is necessary to protect worshippers from violence and intimidation while preserving lawful First Amendment expression.
“No one should ever fear going to their house of worship,” Sen. Slotkin said.
The provision setting a 100-foot boundary is meant to specifically combat hate crimes and acts of violence in places of worship, which Sen. Slotkin said have increased in her state.
“Attacks on synagogues, mosques, churches and other houses of worship are unfortunately on the rise in Michigan, and across the country,” she said.
Sen. Cruz and his Republican colleagues continue to highlight how other ideologies, such as Sharia law and, increasingly, democratic socialism, threaten religious freedom and American democratic values. However, Democrats remain critical of this framing, arguing that such rhetoric can conflate political or religious beliefs with threats to constitutional rights.
Companion legislation has also been introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Brad Knott (R-NC), underscoring the bill’s bipartisan support from lawmakers.
“The right to worship freely is foundational to our nation and was one of the motivations for its founding,” Rep. Knott (R-NC) said. “No American should ever feel that their choice is between worshiping in fear and not worshiping at all.”
