A proposed California bill would not have banned the bible

CLAIM: California bill would restrict Christian pastors’ speech and ban Christian books.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. A California bill proposed in February 2018 would not have banned the Bible or restricted Christian pastors’ speech, despite what a story widely circulating on social media suggested.

THE FACTS: The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Evan Low, aimed to make advertising or selling gay conversion therapy an unlawful and fraudulent business practice.

“As it applies to ‘practices’ only, it does not apply to the sale of books or any other kind of goods, and it does not prevent anyone from speaking or writing on the subject of conversion therapy in any forum,” attorney Anthony Sampson, who advised Low’s office on the bill, told The Associated Press in an email.

Republican Assemblyman Travis Allen was among those making the Bible ban claim. He said that “according to how this law is written,” the sale of Bibles would be prohibited if the bill passed since the Bible addresses sexual morality. The claim also appeared in a meme on Facebook saying, “Democrat California legislator Evan Low just introduced a bill to restrict Christian pastors’ speech and ban Christian books.”

Low withdrew the bill in September 2018 because it “requires additional time to allow for an inclusive process not hampered by legislative deadlines,” Low said in a statement.