On May 4, President Trump signed an executive order that would protect the freedom of religious organizations. Specifically, clergy members would be able to endorse political candidates under the order. The decision to secure the rights of religious liberty did not arise suddenly, however. President Trump had promised previously to his followers that he would “totally destroy” the former provision, named the Johnson Amendment, that prohibited non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates.

The executive order, called the Presidential Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty, will cause the “executive branch to vigorously enforce Federal law’s robust protections for religious freedom.” It will also cause the Secretary of the Treasury to ensure “that the Department of the Treasury does not take any adverse action against any individual, house of worship, or other religious organization on the basis that such individual or organization speaks or has spoken about moral or political issues from a religious perspective.” All religious organizations are exempt from restrictions in participating in political campaign activities.

Furthermore, the executive order will enable corporations to no longer be required to provide its female employees with contraception. Previously, under the Affordable Care Act, the contraception mandate resulted in objections from several groups due to the belief that contraceptives would induce abortions. One of the groups, the Little Sisters of the Poor, which is a Roman Catholic religious institute for women, brought its objections against the mandate to the Supreme Court. However, the institute found the Supreme Court’s results less than favorable. Although the institute was exempt from being directly involved with the mandate, the members still found it to be going against their beliefs. With the new executive order, however, the group was “very happy with the order,” and “the only way [they’d] be disappointed is if the agencies did not carry it out,” according to Lori Windham, a senior counsel from the law firm representing the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Opposition to the executive order is also apparent. One group, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) threatened, “The ACLU stands ready to sue the Trump administration and in the event that this order triggers any official government action at all, we will see Trump in court, again.” Another group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in hopes of maintaining the separation of the church and state.

This executive order will surely create a significant impact on religious organizations and their political endorsements in the future. With oppositions to it from many civil liberty groups to some evangelical leaders, the widespread effect and concern over the Presidential Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty is evidently apparent.