Published on December 8, 2023, 1:26 am

Republican Representative Jim Banks of Indiana has introduced a groundbreaking new bill, the Sensible Adoption for Every (SAFE) Home Act. The legislation is meant to ensure that child welfare agencies cannot discriminate against those of the Christian faith or any other religious beliefs by cutting off their federal funding.

This move comes in response to a rule suggested by the Biden administration’s Health and Human Services department, which mandates foster or adoptive parents support a child’s decision to transition genders — affirming preferred pronouns, chosen names, and enabling them to dress according to their identified gender.

Representative Banks maintains that the Biden administration’s proposal unjustly prevents children in foster care and adoption systems from being placed with loving homes merely because prospective parents oppose irreversible sex change procedures for children. In his opinion, this isn’t about political leanings; it’s fundamentally wrong at its core.

The Biden administration contends that this Health and Human Services guideline is vital for protecting LGBTQI+ youth who are believed to be overrepresented in the foster care system and are known to often face abuse.

This proposed guideline has met resistance from other quarters as well. A group of 18 state attorneys general — including representatives from Republican states like Georgia, Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, and Kentucky — have rallied behind a letter initiated by Alabama AG Steve Marshall. The letter urges HHS to reject the suggested rule as it perceives it as discriminatory and contravening First Amendment freedoms — namely the freedom of religion and speech.

These states argue that such a regulation would essentially eliminate faith-based providers unwilling to compromise on their religious principles from the foster care system. They highlight that just two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled favorably towards religious freedom in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia— a case dealing with discrimination against Catholic groups based on LGBT views concerning foster parenting.

The Republican attorney generals also stress in their communiqué that such an HHS rule would unfortunately impact children in foster care most severely. Noting that those of the Christian faith, and religious individuals more broadly, are statistically much more likely to become foster parents when compared to the wider population. With nearly 400,000 minors currently in the foster care system — a number predicted to continue rising — this is indeed alarming.

Further objections voiced by these GOP AGs suggest that the current administration aims to bypass legal precedent by imposing most of its requirements on states rather than individual providers. For instance, religious parents or groups could decline to accept designations as ‘safe’ homes for LGBT youth if unwilling to comply with HHS LGBT regulations. This decision would therefore halt them from receiving such placements, effectively excluding them from a significant chunk of the foster care system and creating what is deemed by Republicans as further discrimination and violation of constitutional rights.

Stay tuned for more real news and trusted news on this breaking story as it continues to unfold through our Christian worldview lens.