Senate Bill 2188 gives every state-licensed agency carte blanche to discriminate against adoption applicants of certain religious faiths or anyone else the agency disapproves of because of its moral or religious beliefs.  Thus, any qualified parents could face exclusion.  For example, some agencies might believe that children should only be placed with Christians.  Some might believe that the Bible mandates that only families with stay-at-home mothers are suitable for raising children.  Others might object to placing children with parents who would take them to the doctor when sick.  Yet Senate Bill 2188 would permit these and an extremely broad range of other exclusions.

North Dakota cannot afford to have qualified, good parents turned away from adopting because they do not share an agency’s religious or moral beliefs.  Almost four hundred parentless children are waiting to be adopted in the state.  Over 80% wait for more than a year, and more than half wait more than two years waiting for stable, permanent homes.  Allowing agencies to disqualify an applicant because of religious or moral views will have the most immoral of effects – it will leave children waiting even longer for parents to adopt them.  For some it may mean never being adopted.

Senate Bill 2188 runs afoul of the federal and state constitutional protections against government endorsement of religion.  Allowing state-licensed agencies to use religious criteria in making adoptive placements for children in state custody amounts to government endorsement of religion in violation of the federal and state constitutional protection against government establishment of religion.

Senate Bill 2188 essentially provides for state-sanctioned discrimination.  At a time when many both in and out of the North Dakota legislature are looking for ways to make our state a more welcoming and inviting place, this bill sends the message that individuals who are perceived as “different” are not truly welcome in our state and entitled to the same rights and protections as those who are perceived to be in the “mainstream.”

Senate Bill 2188 is not just morally irresponsible, it is financially dangerous as well.  For every child whose adoption was delayed because of the bill’s exclusion of qualified parents, North Dakota could lose federal funds provided for by the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act.