Adoption Bill Prohibiting Religious Discrimination Moves Forward in Senate

(Radio Iowa) A bill that would prohibit religious discrimination against adoption agencies has advanced in the Iowa Senate. The conservative Christian groups that support the bill say it’s needed to protect those who run adoption agencies from having to violate their own religious beliefs. That would include being able to deny adoption or foster placements to same-sex couples. Becky Strope-Boggus of Des Moines says her adopted daughter was abused by her father and was very afraid of all men.

“If our daughter’s welfare would’ve been handled by an organization that was allowed to refuse to place her with a lesbian couple because of a deeply held religious belief, her repeated cycles of trauma would’ve continued, and it would’ve prevented the miles of progress she’s made with our family,” Strope-Boggus says. (Stope-Boggus failed to recognize that foster placement agencies regularly place children in similar situations with single parents). Other LGBTQ parents at the subcommittee hearing Thursday said there’s a shortage of foster parents in Iowa, and the state should be welcoming to all potential foster families.