In Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, No. 19-123, the Supreme Court unanimously sided with a Catholic agency that refuses to work with same sex couples as foster parents. The city had stopped working with Catholic Social Services to serve children in foster care after a 2018 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer described Catholic Social Services’ policy against placement of children with same-sex couples. The US Court of Appeals had unanimously sided with Philadelphia in its effort to require compliance for its nondiscrimination policies. This US Supreme Court decision overturns that earlier ruling.
While this is a loss for LGBTQ advocates, the ruling is somewhat limited in that the court did not establish a general right for religious organizations to violate non-discrimination laws, and did not accept that the Constitution bars the government from enforcing non-discrimination requirements against those with religious objections. Further, the decision may be limited in scope, and will not affect any foster care programs that do not have the same system for individualized exemptions that were at issue here.
(Read the full article from The Washington Post here)
The Barker Adoption Foundation does not discriminate and warmly welcomes all applicants. We are proud to work with LGBTQ families in the adoption process. Please contact us at 301 664-9664 or info@barkerfoundation.org for more information about adopting with us.