Seems the Repubs are always breathing NEW life into the phrase "They that sow the wind, shall REAP the whirlwind."

First – Pence tried signing Indiana's "Right To Legally Discriminate" bill into law on the DL. And then when OUTED (pun intended) the Repubs tried desperately (with a lot of help from an intellectually lazy media) to equate their hate bill with the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed into law by Pres. Clinton in 1993, and that of other states such as my home state of PA.

I've done my research…and in the words of many crtics of the Repubs' bill:

There are SEVERAL major differences in the Indiana bill…the most striking is Section 9. Under that section, a “person” (which under the law includes not only an individual but also any organization, partnership, LLC, corporation, company, firm, church, religious society, or other entity) whose “exercise of religion has been substantially burdened, or is likely to be substantially burdened” can use the law as “a claim or defense…
regardles of whether the state or any other government entitty is a party of the proceeding.” […]

Every other Religious Freedom Restoration Act applies to disputes between a person or entity and a government. Indiana’s is the only law that explicitly applies to disputes between private citizens.* […]

In short- The Repub bill would give license to private businesses to use their Christianist religion "as a defense against private discrimination lawsuits."

Update: And now – the Arkansas Republican-led legislature….Lol….smh!

Seems that despite the WHIRLWIND Pence and his Repub legislature unleashed on themselves with this latest bigotted BS, some of their Stuck-on-Stupid brethren in Arkansas want a piece of that SAME action!?!

Lawdy. Lawdy. Lawdy….Lol. You cannot make THIS stuff up…..smh!

But Arkansas's Governor, Bill Hutchinson (a Repub) is already running for hills. He wants NO parts of it.

Today Gov. Pence declared "a public health emergency" in one Indiana county, in response to an HIV epidemic linked to IV drug use primarily in the southeastern part of the state. The Indiana State Dept. of Health confirmed that 79 people have tested positive for HIV, with all cases originating from Scott County, officials said. The county normally sees fewer than five new HIV cases in one year."

"Needle exchange programs are ILLEGAL in Indiana, but the govenor's order gives health, safety, law enforcement and local officials latitude to implement a short-term program to control the epidemic. The state legislature is debating a similar measure."

Said Pence:

“I do not support needle exchanges as anti-drug policy, but this is a public health emergency,” he said during a news conference on Wednesday. “I’m going to make a decision on the best science and the best way to stop this virus and this outbreak in its tracks.”

H/T: Politico

Mayhaps someone should inform Gov. Pence that needle exchange prgrams have NEVER been about "anti-drug policy." To my knowlwdge, Needle exchange programs are about preventing a public health crisis.

Umm…like the public health Crisis he's dealing with NOW.

Proudly hateful AND Stuck-on-Stupid ta boot….smh.

Honestly, I can't say that I'm that suprised about Indiana. In fact, I suspect that most of those 18 states are among the Reddest (and Poorest) states in the country.

I'll do the research to see if I'm right.