Puerto Rico’s Senate placed on Thursday’s calendar an amended version of Senate Bill 1414, which seeks to protect religious services from being barred during declared emergencies. Unlike the original measure, the amended version does not create a new law: it amends the Fundamental Right to Religious Freedom Act, created in 2025. It also drops the declaration of religious services as an "essential service," a term it now treats as an administrative emergency-management tool aimed at guaranteeing "indispensable" activities.
The original bill, signed by the New Progressive Party (PNP) Senate delegation, would have barred the government itself from canceling religious services during an emergency, epidemic, pandemic or disaster, and said the government "could" require religious organizations to meet "neutral" health, safety and occupancy requirements applicable to other organizations and businesses. The Department of Justice, according to the bill’s positive report signed by Thomas Rivera Schatz, stated that "religious conduct can be regulated for legitimate public purposes."
Priest Carlos Pérez also submitted a memorial on the measure. The amendments remove language saying religious freedom "is not lost under emergency declarations by the state." The new version requires the government, when imposing a "substantial burden" on religious exercise, to prove by "clear and convincing" evidence that its action serves a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means available.
It does not oblige the government to weigh requirements on religious entities against those on secular activities, saying it "may" consider such treatment, and states the law is not a general exemption from legitimate health and public-safety measures.