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| A new law would allow Michigan adoption agencies to turn away parents based on religious belief. Image: Shutterstock |
On Thursday,
Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan signed a controversial religious objection
adoption law that is set to go into effect in 90 days. The law would allow faith-based private
adoption agencies receiving state funding to deny prospective parents the right
to adopt if it goes against the organization’s religious beliefs to do so.
In less than a
day, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan announced it intends
to challenge the law in court.
Perhaps not
coincidentally, this law was signed just weeks before the US Supreme Court
rules on the state’s same sex marriage ban.
The ACLU and others are concerned that the law would impinge on the
rights of many couples, including same sex couples, to adopt.
“We are still
researching right now to develop what we think our best legal theory is, but
certainly we think this is a clear cut case of religious discrimination,” said
ACLU staff attorney Brooke Tucker.
“[These organizations are] taking state funds for adoption placement,
and once they contract with the state and decide they’re going to perform the
public function of adoption placement, they can’t then say, ‘Well, we’re going
to accept these people and we’re not going to accept these people on a
discriminatory basis.’ They just can’t
do that.”
The new law would
allow adoption agencies to refuse prospective parents based on religious
belief, but they would have to then redirect those individuals to other
agencies.
There are 62
adoption agencies in the state, 17 of which have religious affiliations,
according to the Michigan Catholic Conference.
In addition to concerns about the organizations’
religious rights, it’s also a problematic situation because, in other states
where these organizations aren’t allowed to turn away prospective parents, they
often close entirely, which affects the entire state’s ability to help children
find homes.
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