Arkansas passes law protecting the rights of Christian adoption agencies, foster care groups
“Every child deserves a loving home that can provide them stability and opportunities to grow.”
Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders has signed into law a bill which prohibits the government from forcing Christian adoption agencies and foster care groups to violate their religious beliefs in the manner in which they facilitate care for children placed in their charge.
A number of cases have arisen around the country in recent years involving state governments seeking to force such entities to place children in LGBT homes or comply with state law that would require them to condone the LGBT lifestyle and ideologies in some way, such as cooperating with a child’s “gender transition.”
“Every child deserves a loving home that can provide them stability and opportunities to grow. Yet other states have put politics over people by excluding caring families and faith-based adoption and foster care organizations from helping children find loving homes,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Greg Chafuen, The ADF has been one of the key proponents of the bill and routinely defends the religious liberty of Christians in the U.S.
“Thankfully, Arkansas has taken the critical step to pass HB 1669, the Keep Kids First Act, which prioritizes the well-being of kids by prohibiting state and local government officials from discriminating against adoption and foster care providers and parents simply because of their religious beliefs and moral convictions,” Chafuen also said.
The Keep Kids First Act prohibits Arkansas’ government from requiring adoption agencies and foster care groups to “perform, assist, counsel, recommend, consent to, refer, or participate in any placement of a child for foster care or adoption when the proposed placement would violate the private child placement agency's sincerely held religious or moral beliefs.”
It also protects foster and adoptive parents from government action in response to a “[r]efusal to accept or support any government policy regarding sexual orientation or gender identity that conflicts with” their “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
“The state government shall not establish or enforce any per se standard, rule, or policy that precludes consideration of a current or prospective foster or pre-adoptive parent for any particular placement based in whole or in part on the person's sincerely held religious beliefs regarding sexual orientation or gender identity,” the law stipulates.
This is a very important bill for the people of Arkansas, and something that is sorely needed in many other states.
Thankfully, the Supreme Court has in the past ruled in favor of the convictions of foster care providers who would otherwise be forced to violate their religious beliefs to comply with state law.
In 2021, the high court sided with Philadelphia’s Catholic Social Services, which refused to place children in the care of same-sex couples in violation of city requirements.
“The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the court’s decision.
This is a key religious liberty issue, but it is also a critical moral issue. Every child deserves a home where they will receive the best and most stable care. Children growing up outside of their birth family have already been through enough. It is not right to use them as accessories to justify the lifestyle of an LGBT couple. Amen?