Faith-Based Adoption Agencies Can Refuse Same-Sex Couples, According to New Georgia Senate Bill

Faith-Based Adoption Agencies Can Refuse Same-Sex Couples, According to New Georgia Senate Bill

Faith-based adoption agencies in Georgia will now be allowed to decline to place children in families with same-sex couples.

According to WCTV, the Georgia Senate passed the bill granting this freedom to faith-based adoption agencies on Friday in a 35 to 19 vote.

There was contentious debate regarding the bill, especially since the faith-based adoption agencies in question receive taxpayer funding.

“This proposition that we should … protect agencies that are gonna deny loving families the opportunity to adopt a child from our foster care system is just backward on its face,” stated Georgia Sen. Nan Orrock, an Atlanta Democrat.

Proponents of the bill argued, however, that faith-based adoption agencies should not be discriminated against due to their religious convictions.

“Just because you are a faith-based organization, doesn’t mean you have to check your faith at the door and cannot participate in government programs,” stated Georgia Sen. William Ligon, a Brunswick Republican who sponsored the bill.

In addition to declining to place children with same-sex couples, the bill would grant religious freedom to faith-based adoption agencies that decline to place children with other couples whose lifestyles are at odds with the agency’s values, such as unwed couples, single parents, and transgender couples.

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Publication date: February 27, 2018