The Trump administration plans to roll back an Obama-era rule that barred taxpayer-funded adoption and foster care agencies from rejecting same-sex couples based on religious beliefs.
Read the proposed rule HERE.
The NYT reports: ‘The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday released the proposed rule, which would roll back a 2016 discrimination regulation instituted by the administration of President Barack Obama that included sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes. Any organization — including foster care and adoption agencies or other entities that get department funding — is “now free to discriminate” if it wants to, Ms. Brogan-Kator said. The proposed rule could be published in the Federal Register as early as Monday, followed by a 30-day comment period. After that, the comments will close and it will become final rule.’
Said the White House in a statement over the weekend: “The administration is rolling back an Obama-era rule that was proposed in the 12 o’clock hour of the last administration that jeopardizes the ability of faith-based providers to continue serving their communities. The federal government should not be in the business of forcing child welfare providers to choose between helping children and their faith.”
2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg spoke out about the proposed measure in an interview with the Washington Blade: “I think it’s a huge step backward. It’s bad enough that discrimination is taking place across the country, but when discrimination is being supported with federal funds, it takes away, first of all the movement justice and equality, but also an opportunity for the federal government to show leadership in advancing equality.”
Added Buttigieg: “I’m guessing there are some things we haven’t even heard much about yet that are happening across the departments, the way they make changes in practice, the way they set up some of these offices.”
