According to the Catholic bishops, the law needs to recognize that some products and procedures will not be offered due to religious beliefs, and so Catholic medical facilities should be able to expect employees to provide care according to a Catholic ethos.
The Australian bishops stressed the importance of recognizing religious liberty not only as freedom of worship, but also as freedom to live out one's faith through charitable works, education, and public debate.
Kirby, writing to the Australian Law Journal, claimed that current discrimination law prevents harm, while the proposal to change it will give freedom to the religious who cause harm.
"If this move goes ahead, I predict that the result will be a rise in religious intolerance and also anti-religious hostility to replace the more relaxed (live and let live) tradition of modern Australia," he said.
According to Kirby, apartheid in South Africa was justified by citing supposed religious condemnation of inter-racial marriage. He said "racial intolerance was based on the alleged inferiority of black people traced to contestable biblical texts."
"Passages of scripture can be found for just about every prejudice known to mankind," he added. "There is a need for considerable caution in elevating every religious opinion to an enshrined legal right to hurt and harm others."
The Labor Party has declined to take a position on the bill, on the grounds that it is still in draft form.
Attorney General Christian Porter has said there will be some amendments to address religious institutions' concerns that their institutions, like elder care homes, will be exempt from a prohibition on religious discrimination.
Anglican leaders have voiced similar concerns as the Catholic bishops. They cannot support the current draft of the proposal.
Arthur Moses, president of the Law Council of Australia, spoke out against the bill last month, opposing conscience protections for medical professionals who have religious objections to participating in abortion.
In the view of the Australian Industry Group, the proposal could make it difficult for employers to enforce codes of conduct, as employees could justify non-compliance by citing religious beliefs. This could expose other workers to harassment, the group argued in its submission on the legislation.
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