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The following was excerpted from the Deseret News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
A recent settlement between LGBTQ couples and the state of Michigan limiting the rights of faith-based adoption and foster care agencies ended one lawsuit but launched another.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty announced Monday that it’s suing Michigan and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of St. Vincent Catholic Charities and two adoptive families it’s served. The lawsuit argues it’s wrong for faith-based adoption or foster care agencies to miss out on government contracts simply because they won’t work with same-sex couples for religious reasons.
“Faith-based agencies like St. Vincent consistently do the best work because of their faith, and we need more agencies like them helping children — not fewer. The actions by the Attorney General of Michigan do nothing but harm the thousands of at-risk children in desperate need of loving homes,” said Mark Rienzi, Becket’s president, in a statement.
The new lawsuit is the latest development in a yearslong clash between religious freedom and LGBTQ rights in Michigan and across the country. State and federal leaders are struggling to protect same-sex couples and faith-based adoption agencies at the same time.
“Of all the religious freedom issues that I’ve seen in my 15 years of doing this work, (adoption) is the most nuanced of them,” said Robin Fretwell Wilson, director of the family law and policy program at the University of Illinois College of Law, to the Deseret News last year.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
