SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Catholic Charities branches of three Illinois dioceses have filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois in order to continue operating according to Catholic principles — by providing foster care and adoption services only to married couples or non-cohabitating singles.The suit was filed June 7 in response to the state’s new civil-union law — formally called the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act — which was passed last December by the lame duck, Democrat-controlled state Legislature along a party-line vote and took effect June 1. That law threatens to prohibit agencies such as Catholic Charities from performing foster care and adoption services with state funds if they refuse to place children with unmarried couples, including those in civil unions, whether homosexual or not. The new law essentially views couples in civil unions as married couples, with many of the same rights and privileges, and bars discrimination against them. [Source]That’s good news that the Thomas More Society is getting involved. When this happened in Massachusetts and San Francisco Catholic Charities just laying down instead of challenging such a law with religious discrimination at it’s root.
Though on a side point I have to wonder about adoptions to non-cohabitating singles? Under Catholic teaching there is at the minimum a preference for a child to have both a mother and father and in the current circumstance of long waits for adoptions is adoptions to non-cohabitating singles a valid alternative when a married couple is also awaiting a child to adopt?
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Imagine a situation where an orphaned child has only one blood relative interested and/or able to adopt them – a non-cohabitating single. The alternative for the child is remaining with family or being placed within the foster system with a hope of a future adoption. Such placement – while not ideal – is usually the best option for a child.
I know from experience – my oldest came to me this way.
I can certainly see exemptions such as a family member being able to step in, I was speaking in the general where these types of exemptions are not the rule.
Well, but there aren’t long waiting periods for some children–older kids, sibling groups, and kids with special needs. There are children who age out of foster care, and are available for adoption at the time. And there are single adoptive parents willing to step up to that plate.
It feels (at best) a bit odd to say married couples for infants, singles can adopt anyone else. I would be hesitant about making a policy on this.
The Church does not need to be in this business. The Church has other fish to fry.
I know that I’d rather be able to use a Catholic organization to manage a family adoption, were I single and with an orphaned relative….
The Church has been in this “business” since the time of the pagan Romans leaving unwanted babies on trashpiles to die.
The reality is that while there is a long line for adoption of newborns, as most of the newborns who would be adopted are instead aborted, there is no such line for older children who are in the foster-care system (which is pretty awful in NH, not so much because of the foster parents but because of the state) who often have disabilities and are always wounded. Allowing non-cohabitating singles to adopt these children often works well, though not ideal. I have seen this in a few situations.