S. Dakota Bill Lets Christian Adoption Agencies Deny a Child to Gay, Atheist, and Single Parents

A South Dakota bill that has already passed the Senate and is awaiting a vote from the House would allow faith-based foster care and adoption agencies to refuse service to gay couples, atheists, single parents, interfaith couples, divorced people, Muslims, and any other group that may conflict with their sincerely held religious beliefs.

This is what happens when you put the interests of Christians ahead of the children they supposedly care for (with taxpayer funds).

Senate Bill 149 is the subject of a lot of resistance from the state’s ACLU for good reason:

This discrimination would harm not only the caring families seeking to adopt, but also vulnerable children in the foster care system in South Dakota by denying them access to important services and a forever home.

When children are removed from their families by the state because of abuse or neglect, those children have the right to have their foster or adoptive families chosen based on their needs, not based on the religious convictions of the placement agency. Instead, this bill would prohibit South Dakota’s Department of Social Services from requiring agencies to prioritize the needs of the children.

If these groups want taxpayer funds to run their agencies, they can’t discriminate against good parents whose personal beliefs may conflict with Christian mythology. But this is South Dakota, where the Legislature and Governor are all Republicans. Don’t expect them to do the right thing.

They’d rather see Christians discriminating against others than needy children placed in loving homes.

(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Brian for the link)