Sources: Think Progress & One News Now
A newly signed South Dakota law allows religious adoption centers to forbid certain families or individuals from adopting children, based on “religious belief or moral conviction.”
Adoption agencies that receive state funding will not be penalized for creating their own policies for adoption based on “religious belief or moral conviction.” (5,6; SB149).
The bill, SB 149, was signed by South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard last week.
Daugaard maintained that “private child-placement agencies should be protected from a lawsuit should they ever be sued for discriminating against a protected class.”
LGBTQ activists have argued that the bill protects “adoption discrimination” against LGBT communities and individuals who want to adopt from those agencies.
Others defend the bill as one that “protects and ensures” that faith-based agencies can continue to provide their services “unhindered” by penalties that put them out of business.
Read full story at: Think Progress & One News Now