Bill Would Allow Adoption Agencies To Ban Gays, Muslims, Jews, Interfaith Couples

AUSTIN, TX — In the coming days, Texas will consider a bill that will allow state-funded or private agencies by their religious objections to deny adoptions to Jewish, Muslim, gay or interfaith couples.

Authored by State Rep. James Frank, a Republican from Wichita Falls, the bill was originally scheduled for debate and approval this Saturday in the state House. But with a full agenda on other issues, the bill dubbed "Freedom to Serve Children Act," formally House Bill 3859, will be taken up for discussion sometime next week.

The bill is the latest proposal pushed through a prism of ideology by a Republican-controlled legislature that has passed other laws guided by conservative values. Last year, both "open carry" and "campus carry" became the law of the land in the Lone Star State, not in response to a social ill requiring governance but as a statement for those wishing to express their 2nd Amendment rights by toting their guns in public.

Other legislation, such as a ban on transgender use of public bathrooms labeled with the gender of their self-identity or one compelling for burial or cremation of fetal remains, were also motivated on religious grounds. The adoption measure seems to be propelled by a similar motivation in a state where the Republican governor and his lieutenant sprinkle their social media posts with biblical passages rooted in Christian dogma.

"Everyone is welcome," Frank, the bill's author told the Associated Press in reference to the adoption process. "But you do't have to think alike to participate."

Five other states have passed similar laws predicated on protecting faith-based adoption agencies with an aversion to placing children with gay couples or households adhering to religions other than Christianity. But, as the AP noted in its report, the Texas version would extend to state-funded agencies. Only South Dakota has such a sweeping law on its books, AP reported.

Supporters of the bill posit it as a safeguard to adoption agencies' and foster care providers' religious freedoms. Many adoption agencies in Texas have private status but still receive state funds.

Texas has crafted laws based on religious underpinnings in the past. In December, the Republican-controlled state finalized a bill requiring the burial or cremation of fetal tissue and aborted fetuses rather than sanitary disposal. The law was championed by Abbott as part of a broader "Life Initiative" platform.

Abbott later used his stance as fodder for a fundraising campaign.

“I believe it is imperative to establish higher standards that reflect our respect for the sanctity of life,” he said in a fundraising email published by The Texas Tribune earlier this year.

The governor alerted the media last Monday as to his presence at the "Texas National Day of Prayer Breakfast" in Austin, during which he delivered remarks about the importance of faith and praying as well as his own relationship with God.

"As Texans we never shy away from a challenge, and whatever your challenge may be the best way to overcome it is through your connection with God," Abbott said in a press release. "I pray all Texans are strong and courageous in their faith and never be afraid or discouraged, as faith will not fail you.”

As for the mulled adoption law, opponents says it would violate the U.S. Constitution and deprive children of being placed in loving homes — irrespective of religion or sexual preference.

"This would allow adoption agencies to turn away qualified, loving parents who are perhaps perfect in every way because the agency has a difference in religious belief," Catherine Oakley, senior legislative counsel for the Human Rights Campaign, told the AP. "This goes against the best interest of the child."

It's blatantly unconstitutional too, she added: "As a governmental entity, Texas is bound to treat people equally under the law. This is a violation of equal protection under the law."

Suzanne Bryant, an Austin-based adoption attorney who works with LGBT clients and was one of the first Texas residents to have a legal same-sex marriage in the state, said the bill, as written, provides no alternatives to people rejected as adopters.

"Say you call an agency and say, 'I'm Jewish,' and it's a Catholic agency and they hang up on you," Bryant told the AP. "The bill says you can be referred to another agency, but there's no mechanism to set that up."

LGBT advocates point to the latest measure as one of roughly two dozen pending bills in the Texas Legislature that promote discrimination. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick previously pressed hard for a so-called bathroom bill that would prohibit transgender people from using public bathrooms labeled with their gender identification, compelling them to use facilities designed for the gender listed on their birth certificate.

Mary Harris, who lives with her wife and their adopted daughter in Austin, made her views on such measures known on the Texas Freedom Network website: “No matter what they call it, laws that allow discrimination against LGBT foster and adoptive homes are a direct attack on my wife and me — and our family."

"Targeting a group of people for discrimination is wrong whether it is based on race or religion or gender. And it’s just as wrong for the state of Texas to allow discrimination against people because of who they are and whom they love.”

>>> Uppermost image via Shutterstock, official James Frank photo via Texas House of Representatives