A car with an important message at San Francisco Pride | Photo: Flickr/Caitlin Childs
Republicans on Wednesday (11 July) passed an amendment to a funding bill that gives child welfare and adoption agences a ‘license to discriminate’ based on religious objections.
The House Appropriations Committee adopted the amendment in a 29-23 vote. All Democrats voted against it and all Republicans, save one (Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA)), voted for it.
The amendment is part of a funding bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) first introduced the amendment. He stated the amendment addresses ‘two serious problems currently facing our nation’.
The first, he said, is the opiod epidemic, which has caused ‘the number of children in foster care across America to skyrocket’. The second problem is that religious organizations are not being allowed to operate as child welfare agencies ‘simply because these organizations, based on religious conviction, choose not to place children with same-sex couples’.
In his own words, the amendment ‘seeks to prevent these governments from discriminating against child welfare providers on the basis that the provider declines to provide a service that conflicts with its sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions’.
These convictions can also lead to discrimination against single parents (LGBTI or otherwise), divorced parents, and more.
Should the amendment remain in the final bill, and if it passes, it will allow these agencies to discriminate.
Discrimination against true child welfare
Aderholt tweeted: ‘As a Christian and a father, I am proud to have passed this amendment.’
Today my colleagues and I of the @HouseAppropsGOP passed my amendment which prohibits the discrimination of child welfare providers based on religious beliefs or moral convictions.
— Rep. Robert Aderholt (@Robert_Aderholt) July 11, 2018
Democrats on the Committee immediately expressed their opposition to the amendment.
.@RepDWStweets opposes the amendment. Explains that #KidsPayThePrice when child welfare agencies are given a #LicenseToDiscriminate.
— House Appropriations Dems (@AppropsDems) July 11, 2018
.@RepMikeQuigley notes the contradiction between @HouseGOP supporting children being held in cages but preventing children from being fostered or adopted by a loving family.
— House Appropriations Dems (@AppropsDems) July 11, 2018
Other LGBTI and civil rights groups also released statements against the amendment.
‘Any Member of Congress who supports this amendment is clearly stating that it is more important to them to discriminate than it is to find loving homes for children in need,’ said David Stacy, director of government affairs at the Human Rights Campaign.
‘Congress should be focusing on ways to help children in the child welfare system find homes rather than creating needless obstacles for prospective parents, effectively shrinking the pool of qualified folks who want to provide children with a loving home.’
Recently, Oklahoma passed a similar bill into law. This amendment makes such discrimination legal nationwide.
More from Gay Star News
In the last year, the US has introduced 125 anti-LGBTI bills
Many Americans disapprove of Trump’s LGBTI policies, poll finds
