Religious Objection Adoption Bills Pass Senate

Some critics of legislation that allow faith-based adoption agencies to refuse to serve gay or unmarried couples on religious grounds are pushing back on same-sex marriage in advance of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that may legalize it in all 50 states. (Photo by Ben McCleod via Flickr/Creative Commons)

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Private faith-based adoption agencies receiving state funding could refuse to serve same-sex or unmarried couples based on religious objections under action taken Wednesday by the Michigan Senate.

The Senate voted, 26-12, on a package of religious freedom bills as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to rule on gay marriage cases in four states, including Michigan, potentially settling for all 50 states one of the most contentious civil rights issues of modern times.

Because some agencies receive funding from the state, critics say the controversial measure amounts to state-sanctioned discrimination that would limit adoption options for couples that are gay or unmarried, the Detroit Free Press reports.

“These RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) adoption bills are the most egregious example of religious conservatism run amok in our government,” Sen. Coleman Young, D-Detroit, said. “Children are in desperate need of stable and loving homes. And today, we’re slashing those opportunities because of archaic, closed-minded thinking.”

Related:

• As High Court Considers Same-Sex Marriage Bans, Michigan Takes Up Religious Freedom
• Business Owner Gets Death Threats After Saying Gays Are Immoral
• Faith-Based Adoption Agencies Could Refuse Gay Couples Under Michigan Bills
• Question to Michigan Lawmakers Backing Religious Freedom: Did You See What Happened in Indiana?
• Religious Freedom Bills Back Before Michigan Legislature
• Snyder Vows to Veto Religious Freedom Legislation
• Critics: Religious Freedom Restoration Act Legalizes LGBT Discrimination
• U.S. Supreme Court Will Decide Gay Marriage for All 50 States

However, supporters say that faith-based adoption agencies shouldn’t be forced to compromise their religious principles for fear of loss of state funding or legal retaliation. Of the $19.9 million in fiscal year 2014-15 state and federal funding to support adoption agencies and foster care service, nearly $10 million of it went to faith-based agencies.

Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, said loss of that funding would be a “real threat” to those agencies. “If they close their doors,, I don’t know what we’ll do with all the children,” he said.

Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., D-East Lansing, said the timing of the legislation isn’t coincidental.

“Similar laws are being passed to push back against the eventual legalization of same-sex marriage,” he said to colleagues who voted for the bill package. “You’re once again on the wrong side of history.”

The House passed the same three-bill package, mainly along party-line votes, earlier this session. The bills will go back to the House for reconsideration because the Senate included an amendment that would require the adoption agencies declining service to prospective parents to provide referrals to other agencies.

It’s unclear whether Republican Gov. Rick Snyder would sign the bills if they reach his desk.

He has said in the past the adoption bills need further review, and that he’s in favor of children being adopted by “loving families” and “loving parents,” according to The Detroit News. He didn’t specify same-sex couples.