An Oklahoma bill allowing religious or “faith-based” adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT people, same-sex couples, unmarried and single parents, and even interfaith or interracial parents is close to becoming law.
Last week the House passed SB 1140, after an amendment ensuring that no taxpayer funds would be used to support those agencies that opted to discriminate. But the Senate on Monday stripped that amendment out of the legislation, and passed the bill.
It now heads to committee. It will need to be voted on again by both the House and Senate, and then, presuming passage, it would head to Republican Governor Mary Fallin’s desk.
Lawmakers supporting the bill claim it is necessary to ensure enough adoption agencies are able to operate in the state – but it’s their own discriminatory policies that would prevent them from helping the neediest of children – not people who are LGBT.
In order to ensure the bill includes the most egregious and unconstitutional portion – the part that allows taxpayer funds to be used to support discrimination – House Speaker Charles McCall “assigned it to a special committee of far right legislators to guarantee its passage with with funding of discriminatory agencies intact,” according to Freedom Oklahoma.
Calling it “a clear violation of the establishment and equal protection clauses of the U. S. Constitution,” Freedom Oklahoma executive director Troy Stevenson issued a warning.
“If this bill becomes law it will cost Oklahomans millions of dollars in litigation fees, in a time when Oklahoma can not properly fund education and other core services.”
He adds, “if discrimination becomes the law of the land, we will be in court before the ink dries on the bill. Make no mistake, this bill is a bigoted attempt to keep Oklahoma’s most vulnerable youth out of loving and committed homes. SB 1140 is unconstitutional, discriminatory, and down right cruel to children desperately in search of families. Its authors should be ashamed of their bias.”
“Our only hope to stop the bill – before we have to go to court – is a veto from Governor Fallin,” Freedom Oklahoma says via Facebook. “Please call her office – and ask that she veto SB 1140 – at: 405.521.2342.”
Fallin has not indicated if she will sign it.
Image: National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Marvin Preston via Wikimedia