SALT LAKE CITY – In March 2020, the world apparently closed when state leaders rushed to protect Utahns from the rapidly spreading and largely mysterious new coronavirus. As part of the response, church services were limited and family members could not visit loved ones at health care facilities.
Nearly a year later, a lawmaker tried to prevent this from happening again with a proposed bill that he said would protect religious and personal freedoms, even in emergencies.
Rep Cory Maloy, R-Lehi, is the sponsor of HB184, which will prevent health departments from restricting religious practice or access to a church. It also prohibits a health care institution from banning individuals from seeing at least one family member or spiritual counselor at a time.
“It does not mean that there is anything negative about our healthcare facilities or our healthcare professionals; I know that everyone … has worked very, very diligently to do the right things, but we just feel strongly (about) the right to can have those emotional connections, ‘Maloy said.
The necessary health precautions will still be allowed according to the current language of the bill, and facilities will be allowed to ‘do everything possible to ensure that everyone is kept safe’, Maloy said, but they may not ban visitors altogether.
“It does not mean that we can not make recommendations or set the right things to keep people safe, but that we just do it without shutting down those places,” he said.
In a written statement, the Utah Department of Health says it is reviewing the bill and will address any possible issues with Maloy.
“The Utah Department of Health has an important responsibility to respond to outbreaks of infectious diseases to protect the health of Utah residents,” Tom Hudachko, Utah Department of Health’s communications director, said in the statement.
While the bill was inspired by the state’s COVID-19 response, Maloy said he did not feel any health or other public officials were acting maliciously and acknowledged that the situation was going on quickly and was difficult to address; however, he said he believes it is important to reflect on the response and see if there are areas where the state could be better in the future.
“I think it’s good for us to look at what we’ve learned over the last year,” he said.
Religious impact
While Utah has not restricted worship since the spring, other states have resorted to strict health guidelines applied to worship. The Supreme Court of the United States recently sided with religious groups in a dispute over COVID-19 restrictions in New York and ruled that the guidelines applied to churches are far more restrictive than regulations enacted for similar secular enterprises. Prior to the ruling, the New York government, Andrew Cuomo, reviewed restrictions in response to a lawsuit filed by religious organizations.
Utah initially restricted personal church services, but later allowed it under new guidelines issued in May. Since then, the state has largely avoided instituting orders over Utah’s religious sector.
Former Governor Gary Herbert issued a new emergency order in November to address overcrowded hospitals banning residents from socializing with those living outside their household. Religious organizations were exempt from the order and were encouraged to apply the proper health protocols in their congregations to limit the spread.
Fortunately, Maloy said, Utah included its religious organizations in making important decisions about the COVID-19 response, and there have been no cases similar to the problems seen in New York and other states; however, he believed that it was important to ensure religious freedoms, even in emergencies, and therefore he proposed the bill as a preventative measure.
“This is a preventative measure to ensure it never happens here in Utah,” Maloy said.
Religious groups in the state largely followed the health guidelines to limit the spread of COVID-19 outside government orders. But Maloy said that “the difference is that they were not forced by the government” and that they acted because “it was the right thing to do with their congregations.”
Since the onset of the pandemic, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been reactive. The worldwide church discontinued personal service and did not return to services immediately, even after local guidelines allowed.
Several other religious groups have also implemented their own COVID-19 guidelines outside of state requirements. Salt Lake’s Calvary Baptist Church, for example, closed down personal services after briefly opening services.
“I just wanted to wander on the side of caution,” Rev. Oscar Moses had earlier told KSL.com about his decision. “I did not want to take any chances with someone who might even catch the virus.”
The Chabad Lubavitch of Utah has also adapted its services by introducing a hybrid system with some services done in person and others online to maintain public health guidelines. The congregation also offered social distance from Hanukkah in December.
“While taking precautions, we try to be there for people in a way that makes them feel most comfortable,” Rabbi Avremi Zippel told KSL.com.
Zippel said he is grateful for the partnership the state has cultivated with the various religious communities to address pandemic responses.
“This is something for which we are very grateful here in Utah,” he said. “I know we do not take it for granted because I know that many of my colleagues who live in other parts of the country, in larger communities, have really had to drop their local governments the hammer on different religious communities in what seems to be to be completely arbitrary. ‘
The state’s response to COVID-19 is largely based on personal responsibility, with a mandatory mask mandate implemented only within a few months in the pandemic.
For Zippel, he said he believes religious leaders need to find a balance between example in times of crisis, while still providing important religious and spiritual support.
“We have to lead from the front; we have to switch off when we have to stand still,” he explained, pointing out that Judaism and several other religions give extreme priority to someone’s health.
On the other hand, he noted that it is important for religious leaders to support their local government for the service they render to the community.
“I think we as religious leaders like to be supported and recognized by our local governments and recognized for the essential services we provide to our communities,” he said. “Some people rely on their faith communities for support, structure, for so many good things in their lives, especially when everything around them is collapsing.”
Finally, while Maloy said that Utah has done an excellent job of balancing religious freedoms while still protecting the health of the public, he felt it was important to strengthen these rights by law.
Security of the elderly in residential facilities
Maloy’s bill would also prohibit senior housing facilities from restricting family members or religious leaders from visiting residents, something that was common early in the pandemic to protect residents from the virus.
“The reason is that they are often very fragile because of their age. And getting them stuck where they can not have the emotional support system of their spiritual leaders or their family is just something we do not want to see,” Maloy said. . “It’s preventative to protect these rights, and we’ve seen cases in Utah where seniors – especially seniors – have been away from their relatives or spiritual leaders for months, and we just feel like it’s just too much of a violation.”
Jenny Allred, who went several months without seeing her 95-year-old grandmother, said the bill was extremely important and that it was ‘absolutely necessary to make it happen’.
“The health department has focused so much on the aspect of physical safety – which absolutely must happen – but there is another very important component to health that goes hand in hand, and that is mental and emotional health,” she said. . “So I think it will help to find a balance in between.”
Since Allred’s grandmother lived on COVID-19 cases in the community, the family’s contact with the 95-year-old declined and the family was ‘very concerned because we could not get hold of her’.
Eventually, the family was able to get her an Alexa machine that helped them communicate, but sometimes they still could not contact her. Personal visits were also limited, but only through a glass window. Her grandmother contracted COVID-19 at one point and Allred and other family members struggled to get in touch with her for health updates as the facility was overwhelmed and staff short. Fortunately, her grandmother has recovered in the meantime.
“I think if you go through these things for her, to even see her in person and have that connection, let her know that things are going to be OK, can offer that love, and for her to be able to feel it and it personally, I think I speak volumes, ‘Allred said.
Maloy agreed, saying it was his whole idea behind the bill: to prevent the elderly from being isolated during a disaster.
“They can still take precautions to do everything to ensure everyone is kept safe, but they will not just be able to say, ‘No, you can not let visitors in,'” Maloy said.
Lauren Bennett