House Republicans Passed Amendment to Protect Adoption Agencies' Right to Refuse Gay Couples
An amendment has just been passed by the House Appropriations Committee that could allow adoption agencies to refuse applications based on moral or religious criteria. This new amendment, which was passed on Wednesday, July 11, is now also seen as another way for religious organizations to run child welfare agencies as well.
Introduced by Alabama Representative Robert Aderholt, the amendment would, if implemented, protect the right of child welfare providers to refuse to "provide a service that conflicts with its sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions," as the lawmaker described the new measure.
It was also a provision that will allow religious organizations like the Catholic Charities or Bethany Christian Services, to name two examples as mentioned by Aderholt, to run child welfare services without having to compromise their beliefs, according to CNN.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"The reason for this is simply because these organizations, based on religious conviction, choose not to place children with same-sex couples," the congressman said in a statement.
He added that the new provision is a measure to protect these services from discrimination from state governments, especially on cases involving same-sex couples adopting a child. House Democrats have spoken out against the new provision, saying that the amendment would effectively deny gay couples the right to adopt.
The new provision could impact LGBTQ-friendly states as well, through federal funding cuts of up to 15 percent for states that fail to protect religious adoption services.
Rep. Mark Pocan, a gay Wisconsin Democrat, took to social media to protest the amendment on Thursday. "Same sex couples are six times more likely to foster and four times more likely to adopt. Denying kids loving parents is wrong," he wrote.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, used stronger words to describe the amendment when she called it a "disgusting, deeply immoral and profoundly offensive effort," adding that House Democrats will fight this attempt to "push a bigoted, anti-LGBTQ agenda."
