Pontiac Times

While a Republican lawmaker in Michigan said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order goes too far, a secular group called her out for exempting religious organizations from gathering limits.

Whitmer extended her emergency declaration with an executive order issued on April 1. “The state of emergency and the state of disaster will terminate when emergency and disaster conditions no longer exist and appropriate programs have been implemented to recover from any effects of the statewide emergency and disaster,” Whitmer said, according to Fox2Detroit.

In a separate letter to Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) and House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering), the governor asked them to pass a resolution extending the emergency declaration 70 days from its adoption.

Rep. John Reilly, (R-Oakland Township) said, before Whitmer issued the extension, that the stay-at-home order raised constitutional concerns and threatens the state’s economy.

“Issuing a stay-at-home order is a dangerous overreaction that will cause dramatic economic damage, more so than has already been caused,” Reilly said on Michigan House Republicans. “While I realize we are in uncharted territory with this virus, we also need to seriously consider the impact of mass unemployment and poverty, which will harm the public health, as well as our quality of life.”

The governor acknowledged the economic hardships that the efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing are having in her latest order. Businesses for which working at home is impossible have closed or cut their operations. A record number of Michiganders are losing their jobs, with nearly a half-million residents filing for unemployment insurance in just two weeks. That’s more claims than were filed in all of 2019.

And Whitmer warned in her executive order that it will get worse.

“The economic damage -- already severe -- will compound with time,” she said, according to Michigan.gov. “On March 19, 2020, economists at the University of Michigan forecasted that as many as 1 in 10 Michiganders could be unemployed by the fall and that economic sectors that feature substantial social interaction could contract by as much as 50%.”

Her order also listed statutes and sections of the state constitution that she said give her these powers.

The president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Rachel Laser, called Whitmer’s executive order exempting churches from the statewide ban of gatherings of 50 or more people unconstitutional and dangerous.

“The exemption invites houses of worship to violate the stay-at-home directive, putting the public health at risk,” Laser said, reported The Christian Post.

Reilly questioned Whitmer’s use of executive orders on constitutional grounds.

“Even if we are facing a public health emergency, how does the governor have the authority to suspend the Michigan Constitution -- which guarantees, among other things, the right to peaceful assembly? When this is over, we must take a serious look at the powers of the governor and how they balance with our state’s public health needs and the livelihoods of Michigan families,” Reilly said, according to the Michigan House Republicans website.

Laser said to The Christian Post that there is “no federal constitutional requirement that the state exempt houses of worship from such bans.” The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits exempting houses of worship from the public safety ban, she said.

Reilly wants state residents to follow the advice of public health officials. But he’s against making it an order.

“Seniors and other people with underlying health concerns should take steps to isolate and protect themselves -- but this should be done voluntarily, without placing the entire state on lockdown, as the governor has decided to do,” Reilly said to Michigan House Republicans.

Chatfield, asked by the governor on April 1 to pass a resolution extending her emergency declaration for 70 additional days, had thanked the governor for the religious service exemption. But he also wants people of faith to help keep their neighbors safe.

"People have a God-given right to assemble and worship, and that right is secured by both the United States and Michigan Constitution. While I do not think that that right can be taken away by an executive order, I believe that, as Christians, we also have a duty to love our fellow man and play our role within society," he said on his Facebook page.