Conservative Republican Representative Robert Aderholt of Alabama doesn’t like gay people adopting children. As a result he introduced a new restriction concerning gay adoptions as an amendment in a bill before the House Appropriations Committee,
Leo Vida at PoliticusUSA:
Conservative Republican Representative Robert Aderholt of Alabama doesn’t like gay people adopting children. As a result he introduced a new restriction concerning gay adoptions as an amendment in a bill before the House Appropriations Committee, and his amendment was approved by the committee.
If Aderholt’s law goes into effect, it would allow adoption agencies to refuse service to gay couples based on the moral or religious beliefs of the agency. More specifically, according to Aderholt, the amendment would allow child welfare providers to decline to “provide a service that conflicts with its sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions.”
Aderholt said that religious organizations such as Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services would now be able to operate child welfare agencies if the legislation passes.
According to Aderholt:
“The reason for this is simply because these organizations, based on religious conviction, choose not to place children with same-sex couples. The amendment I introduced seeks to prevent these state governments from discriminating against child welfare providers on the basis that the provider declines to provide a service that conflicts with its sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions.”
Aderholt’s amendment would have a significant impact in states with larger LGBTQ populations and more gay-friendly laws. It would require the US Department of Health and Human Services to withhold from states 15% of the federal funds each state receives for child welfare services if that state doesn’t meet the new standards for “protecting” religious adoption groups.
As to be expected, Democrats in the House have come out against Aderholt’s amendment. They believe that it would severely restrict the ability of same-sex couples to adopt children which would be a violation of their rights.