Romney files 'religious freedom' bill on church and gay adoption

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Romney files 'religious freedom' bill on church and gay adoption

By Brooke Donald, The Boston Globe , March 15, 2006

BOSTON --Gov. Mitt Romney filed a bill Wednesday that would exempt the Boston Archdiocese's Catholic Charities from a state anti-discrimination law that says it must provide adoption services to gay and lesbian couples.

The social services arm of the Roman Catholic Church has arranged adoptions for the state for about two decades and has placed 13 children in same-sex homes.

Last week, however, the agency said it would end its entire adoption program because state laws that forbid discrimination against gay couples run counter to church teachings on homosexuality.

Romney's bill, "An Act Protecting Religious Freedom," would exempt religious organizations from the state's anti-discrimination requirements when providing adoption or foster placement services. He said the exemption would not allow discrimination based on race, creed, national origin, gender or handicap.

The Republican governor, who is a potential candidate for president in 2008, said he was concerned that the legal requirement that gays be given equal consideration as prospective adoptive parents violated Catholic Charities' religious beliefs.

"It is a matter beyond dispute, and a prerequisite to the preservation of liberty, that government not dictate to religious institutions the moral principles by which they are to carry out their charitable and divine mission," Romney said in a letter to House and Senate leaders.

He said Catholic Charities' withdrawal from providing adoption services creates a void in the child welfare system.

"In this case, the needs of children must come before the rights of adults," he said.

Romney has argued that exempting religious organizations from nondiscrimination rules would not inhibit gay couples from adopting because other agencies can meet their needs.

Arline Isaacson, the co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, said Romney's proposal was reprehensible.

"These kids need loving and nurturing homes and if the best match for them is a gay family, they should be allowed to have that," she said. "When you start exempting from discrimination laws in one category, someone can come around and ask for it in another and another and another. Ultimately the kids are the losers."

Most adoptive children in Massachusetts are placed by the Department of Social Services. Catholic Charities has placed 720 children in adoptive homes in the past two decades.

Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, a fellow Republican hoping to succeed Romney as governor, recently said she disagreed with the governor's position.

House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and Senate President Robert Travaglini, both Democrats, have said they would oppose Romney's efforts.

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