Faith-based adoption agencies and foster care organizations contracting with the Michigan government will not be required to grant children to same-sex couples following a recent legal settlement.
Michigan child welfare officials said last week that they will resume contracting with agencies that disallow adoptions from same-sex couples, citing a June 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision siding with a Philadelphia Catholic foster care agency. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Philadelphia’s policy violated the First Amendment because the Catholic agency did not work with same-sex couples.
“The Supreme Court decision is binding on Michigan,” the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a statement on Tuesday.
SUPREME COURT RULES FOR CATHOLIC FOSTER CARE AGENCY IN GAY DISCRIMINATION DISPUTE
“While this outcome is not what we hoped for, we are committed to providing support to the many members in the LGBTQ+ community who want to open their hearts and their homes,” Demetrius Starling, executive director of the MDHHS Children’s Services Agency, said in the statement.
The preliminary settlement disallows the state from blocking contracts with faith-based adoption agencies, including St. Vincent Catholic Charities, a religious group that sued Michigan in 2019. St. Vincent challenged a deal Democratic Attorney General Dana Nesse made to resolve an earlier lawsuit brought against the state by a same-sex couple who alleged they were turned away by a faith-based adoption group.
Nesse’s agreement stated that a 2015 law backed by Republicans allowing adoption agencies to deny services that conflict with sincerely held beliefs does not apply if they have contracts with the state.
“We are grateful that a law signed in 2015 with bipartisan support to uphold conscience rights will continue to benefit Michigan’s most vulnerable children who are served by a network of faith-based child placement agencies,” said David Maluchnik, Michigan Catholic Conference vice president for communications.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Michigan will be required to pay St. Vincent $550,000 in attorney fees and costs, though the deal still requires a judge’s approval.
The MDHHS plans to announce a new effort to support same-sex couples who want to become foster and adoptive parents, the department added in its Tuesday statement.
