By Chip Brownlee
Alabama Political Reporter
MONTGOMERY — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Wednesday signed a controversial bill into law that will allow faith-based adoption and foster agencies in the State to refuse services to same-sex couples if it goes against their religious convictions.
Ivey approved House Bill 24, sponsored by Rep. Rich Wingo, R-Tuscaloosa, after what her office called “thoughtful consideration.” The bill, which is now law, allows state-licensed, faith-based child-placing agencies to refuse to place children in homes if it would violate the agency’s sincerely held religious beliefs.
“The elected legislature of this state overwhelmingly approved House Bill 24,” Ivey said in a statement.
The Legislature gave final passage to the bill last week. Ivey, a Republican, considered issuing an executive amendment to the bill, sources confirmed to APR, but ultimately decided to sign the bill amid pressure from conservative lawmakers and political groups.
The original version of the bill would have extended the protections to faith-based agencies that receive state or federal funding. But a Senate amendment passed last month limited the bill’s protections to faith-based organizations that do not receive any state or federal funding.
“There is no compelling reason to require a child placing agency to violate its sincerely held religious beliefs in providing any service, since alternative access to the services is equally available,” the bill reads.
The Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center and the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights group, the Human Rights Campaign, have said the bill would authorize what amounts to “legalized discrimination” against same-sex couples.
“We are deeply disappointed that the legislature and the governor took on this unnecessary, discriminatory bill instead of focusing on how to improve the lives of all Alabamians, no matter who they are or whom they love,” said Eva Kendrick, HRC Alabama state director. “The intent of this law is clear: to discriminate, causing the most harm to children in Alabama’s child welfare system. It’s time our lawmakers — from the Legislature to the Governor’s Mansion — stop using LGBTQ people as pawns to win cheap political points.”
The bill, which was proposed twice before, would prohibit the State from withholding a license from an adoption or foster agency that denied placement services to same-sex families, or other families, because of the agency’s religious beliefs.
Both previous iterations of the “Child Placing Agency Inclusion Act” failed to pass the Legislature.
Wingo and other supporters of the bill have said the bill is needed to protect faith-based adoption agencies. Opponents say the new law gives faith-based agencies the option to discriminate against qualified same-sex would-be parents.
In an interview with APR, Wingo said his bill wasn’t intended to prevent same-sex couples from being able to adopt. They could go to secular adoption agencies, which place about 70 percent of children in Alabama, for services if they’re refused by faith-based agencies, Wingo said.
“The intent of the bill was to make sure the faith-based child-placing agencies aren’t harmed for their beliefs,” Wingo said.
Wingo cited instances in Massachusetts and California in which some faith-based adoption agencies were shut down for choosing not to place children in home with LGBT parents.
Ivey considered tacking on a minor change and sending the bill back to the Legislature. An executive amendment, had she issued one, could have killed the bill in the final days of the 2017 Legislative Session, which is set to end in late May.
After waiting nearly a week, Ivey ended up signing the bill. Wingo said he was “extremely grateful” that the Governor signed his bill.
“I ultimately signed House Hill 24 because it ensures hundreds of children can continue to find ‘forever homes’ through religiously-affiliated adoption agencies,” Ivey said. “This bill is not about discrimination, but instead protects the ability of religious agencies to place vulnerable children in a permanent home.”
The SPLC, another nonprofit civil rights organization, criticized Ivey’s decision to sign the act and said it allows agencies to “discriminate against vulnerable kids and families.”
“We are disappointed that one of the very first pieces of legislation Governor Kay Ivey chose to sign is a bill intended to target LGBT kids and stigmatize LGBT families,” said Daniel Dinieli If the Governor had hoped to signal a new day in Alabama government, this was the wrong way to do it.”
The bill would essentially prohibit the Alabama Department of Human Resources from withholding state licenses from those agencies. If agencies don’t have a license, they can’t operate.
“The worst thing that could happen would be for religious adoption and foster agencies to shut down – that would be catastrophic for Alabama’s children, not to mention the enormous financial burden it would place on DHR,” Wingo said in a statement last month.
Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota and Michigan have similar provisions. About 30 percent of Alabama’s adoptions are placed through private, faith-based adoption agencies.
The bill went into effect immediately upon receiving Ivey’s signature.
Email Chip Brownlee at cbrownlee@alreporter.com or follow him on Twitter.
