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The SCOTUS rule 9-0 in favor of the catholic church after they refused to let same-sex couples adopt foster children, according to The Daily Wire.
The SCOTUS ruled that “Philadelphia violated the First Amendment when it froze the contract of a Catholic Foster Care Agency that refused to work with same-sex couples as potential foster parents because the agency believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman.”
“The dispute arose because Catholic Social Services — which was receiving taxpayer funds — was unwilling to work with LGBTQ couples as foster parents out of religious objections to same sex marriage.”
“The policy was brought to the attention of the city in 2018 after inquiries from a local newspaper, and soon after the government put a freeze on the contract. The group, led by long-time foster parent Sharonell Fulton who has fostered more than 40 children over 25 years, brought suit.”
“The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents…violates the First Amendment.”
From The Daily Wire:
The agency had never been approached by nor turned away a same-sex couple seeking to adopt, per the group’s brief.
The six justices included in the majority opinion also noted that foster care agencies are not public accommodations.
The ruling, however, was limited; although both the agency, Catholic Social Services, and three of the Court’s conservative justices — Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Justice Neil Gorsuch — wanted the Court to go further, overturn the landmark case, Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, and allow broad religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws.
Employment Div. v. Smith is a 1990 decision “that said religious groups are not exempt from general local, state, and federal laws, including those banning discrimination. A decision to overturn that ruling would make it easier for businesses to claim a religious exemption from laws that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. But civil liberties groups say it would blunt efforts to fight discrimination,” per NBC News.
