HHS change would help religious adoption agencies

A regulation proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services could put faith-based foster care and adoption agencies on more secure footing. The new rule would undo Obama-era regulations that included sexual orientation as a protected class under anti-discrimination laws, making it easier for agencies to place children according to their Biblical beliefs about marriage and sex.

Who is affected? The law would apply to a broad range of social services organizations that receive HHS grants to care for the poor. The regulation has gotten the most attention from groups for and against forcing faith-based adoption and foster care agencies to place children in LGBT households. Those agencies faced a loss of federal funding and possibly their licenses under the old rule.

Dig deeper: Read Bonnie Pritchett’s report in Liberties on how the Obama-era rules affected specific adoption agencies and how the organizations responded.