FORT WAYNE — In a recent opinion piece, Indiana Congressional Representative Jim Banks responded to comments made by Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke regarding First Amendment rights.

In a televised town hall, CNN’s Don Lemon asked O’Rourke if he thinks religious institutions like colleges, churches, charities should lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose same-sex marriage. O’Rourke emphatically said, “Yes.”

In Banks’ opinion piece, he called O’Rourke’s stance “an outrageous assault on the First Amendment and our country’s beautiful tradition of religious freedom.”

Banks challenged what he deems an unconstitutional proposal by O’Rourke. He said the move “would pit churches with millions of members against the U.S. government.”

If O’Rourke’s proposal would come to fruition the federal government would be “officially discriminating against the Catholic Church, each of its 70 million American members would be forced to choose a side. And the devout would have their love of this country stolen from them,” Banks said.

Read Banks’ opinion piece in full here.