Saturday, February 29, 2020

Does a Catholic agency discriminate when it refuses to allow same sex couples to adopt?

A Catholic adoption agency is not entitled to a contract with the city of Philadelphia because the Catholic organization refuses to make referrals of children for adoption or fostering to same sex couples, the Third Circuit has decided in Fulton v. Philadelphia.  Notre Dame law prof Rick Garnett [below] thinks Philadelphia should grant an exemption from its general anti-discrimination law.  He welcomes the Supreme Court's decision to review the case.
Noteworthy is that the Catholic church is free to pursue its practice - but is not entitled to a City contract.  That could change if the four conservative Catholics (and one Episcopalian ally) decide to overturn the principle that laws of general applicability trump religious belief.  I discuss some of those issues HERE.
For me the tragedy is that an adoption agency should dress up as an act of faith adherence to the Catholic Catechism [at 2357] which dismisses homosexuals as "intrinsically disordered".  That view if embraced by all would have orphaned New York Hudson Valley Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney's three children.
- GWC



Meanwhile...

1 comment:

  1. That is one lucky family, to have found one another. Well said, Rep. Maloney.

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