Thanks to a bill signed into law by Governor Doug Ducey, faith-based adoption and foster care agencies can practice their faith when it comes to placing children in homes without the threat of LGBT movement lawsuits.
Cindy Dahlgren of the Center for Arizona Policy calls it a "victory" both for children seeking a loving home, and for faith-based agencies, "because it ensures more opportunities for foster[ing] and adoption while also protecting the religious freedom of faith-based agencies and parents."
Dalhgren adds that the U.S. Supreme Court decision against Philadelphia’s ban on faith organizations placing the children according to the agencies’ religious beliefs was a narrow ruling, so some states have felt compelled to pass their own laws to protect religious freedom.
“Several states have given in to the pressure to exclude individuals, companies, organizations, and anyone that holds to a historic or religious view of sexuality," Dalhgren advises. “So this mandate forces religious organizations to either violate their religious convictions or stop providing adoption and foster care services, which they’ve been doing for decades.”
Critics of the Arizona governor’s decision argue that kids in the system will actually be hurt by this legislation. They claim that faith-based agencies will turn away not only members of the LGBT+ community but also applicants of other faiths.
The new law stipulates that foster families have the right to abide by their own religious principles in raising the children under their care, which is also drawing criticism from critics.
There is also a section in the new law where the faith organizations can seek relief, including damages and attorney fees, if their rights are violated.
