South Dakota adoption discrimination bill becomes law
The first domino falls: South Dakota adoption discrimination bill becomes law
Friday evening, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) signed SB 149 into law, thereby granting adoption agencies that receive state funding a license to discriminate. Child-placement agencies can now enact any policy based on “religious belief or moral conviction” — and, as long as they adhere to their own rules, they cannot be punished by the government for doing so. This means that refusing to place children with same-sex couples, single people, or couples who have had premarital sex will not endanger any agency’s access to taxpayer subsidies.
South Dakota is the first state in 2017 to enact an anti-LGBT law. Dozens of other bills — including anti-transgender bills and anti-LGBT “religious freedom” bills that either similarly target adoption agencies or are far broader — are waiting in the wings across the country.
This was not the first adoption discrimination bill to pass in a state, however. Michigan, North Dakota, and Virginia have similar bills that allow adoption agencies to establish discriminatory policies without fear of retribution.
When signing SB 149, Daugaard apparently expressed concern that private child-placement agencies should be protected from a lawsuit should they ever be sued for discriminating against a “protected class.” There was no attempt to pretend that the legislation was not specifically about ensuring religious-based discrimination against LGBT people.
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https://thinkprogress.org/south-dakota-adoption-discrimination-816d79eb3c7f#.hgeoevvuv
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