Summary: President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will allow churches to participate in politics without fear of losing their tax-exempt status.
According to the BBC, there are also some religious groups that oppose Trump's executive order.
"No one should be censoring sermons or targeting pastors", Trump said.
"The good side of it, is that it protects them because nobody should be sued or have their livelihood taken away from them because of their religious beliefs", said Olatunji.
Vice President Mike Pence introduced Trump at the ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, calling the president "a believer" who has "an unshakeable faith in God and the American people". Metcalf-Armstrong said although the order stops short allowing groups and businesses to discriminate against the LGBT community- the overall vagueness of the executive order could be risky. President Trump's efforts to promote religious freedom are thinly-veiled efforts to unleash his conservative religious base into the political arena while also using religion to discriminate.
The provision is written in the tax code and would require an act of Congress to repeal fully.
The Johnson Amendment was made law in 1954, and it essentially prevents churches and other tax-exempt religious organizations from being too politically involved.
The order doesn't change any laws.
Republican healthcare bill passed, Obamacare 'dead'
But Schick is anxious what will happen to her insurance, when she moves off her parents' plan with her now pre-existing condition. The House passed a new version of the law by a 217-213 margin before the budget office could even complete its new estimate .
Legal experts said the order would not have a discernible effect on policy. "A woman's health should not be up to her boss or politicians", Planned Parenthood Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens said in a statement. "The executive order allows the IRS to restrict the activity it now considers political, but prohibits the IRS from expanding the restrictions to cover activity not covered before the executive order". In a statement, Human Rights Campaign warns that the executive order could result in "an unprecedented expansion of religious exemptions affecting employment, services and programs".
"They said such actions unfairly stifle their voices", the daily reported.
He said in February he would "totally destroy" the amendment.
The White House has indicated that this measure is just the beginning of a long road to dismantle the Johnson Amendment. "And the executive order - while it could be stronger, could be broader - the clear indication is that it's the first executive order of its kind".
An easing of the ban on political involvement by religious entitiesThe order instructs the Treasury Department not to penalize any individual, house of worship, or other religious organization that "speaks or has spoken about moral or political issues from a religious perspective".
Evangelicals supported Trump strongly during his election and had been pressuring the administration to go further in giving businesses discretion to assert morality clauses without running afoul of anti-discrimination laws.
The American Civil Liberties Union threatened the Trump administration with a lawsuit when details of the executive order emerged Wednesday.
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