The Senate voted today to pass anti-adoption RFRA bills that could allow adoption and foster agencies to stop loving and welcoming LGBT couples across Michigan from taking in children in need of a home. These harmful bills will now go to Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk.
These bills are especially worrisome, because they will give adoption and foster agencies the ability to discriminate against LGBT parents based on their so-called religious beliefs.
But there is one and only one reason an agency should consider when placing a foster child with a new family—and that is whether or not it is in the best interest of the child.
With approximately 13,000 Michigan children in need of a home at any given time, it is outrageous that the Michigan Legislature would move forward with these bills, knowing full well that the people it will harm the most are children who are in need of a loving and nurturing home.
So not only is the proposed adoption legislation discriminatory, it’s a danger to the tens of thousands of orphans and foster children in Michigan who needs roofs over their heads.
With some many kids hoping to find stable homes, Michigan doesn’t have room for discrimination.
By Rana Elmir
Rana Elmir is Deputy Director of the ACLU of Michigan
