Supreme Court to hear foster care case

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Philadelphia foster mother Cecilia Paul, a co-plaintiff in the case defending Catholic Social Services in Philadelphia. She died while the case was in progress. Becket (file)

Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia will get a chance to defend its religious beliefs about marriage in front of the nation’s highest court. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an appeal in the lawsuit over whether the city can cancel its foster care contract with the agency because it will not place children with LGBT couples.

How has the case gone so far? Catholic Social Services has had to stop placing foster children on the city’s behalf. Lower courts ruled against the agency and two of its foster mothers, saying they had to follow the city’s nondiscrimination policy. In the meantime, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is trying to prop up religious adoption and foster groups with rules that respect their Biblical beliefs.

Dig deeper: Read Steve West’s report in Liberties about a Catholic child-placing agency in Michigan that fared better in court.

Lynde Langdon

Lynde is WORLD’s executive editor for news. She is a graduate of World Journalism Institute, the Missouri School of Journalism, and the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Lynde resides with her family in Wichita, Kan.

@lmlangdon