BISMARCK -- Agencies in North Dakota will have explicit rights to refuse adoptions that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs under a bill passed in the House Monday.

The bill carrier, Rep. Sally Sandvig, D-Fargo, said some of the half-dozen adoption agencies in the state do not want to do adoptions for “certain groups of people,” including single people or gay or lesbian couples.

Senate Bill 2188 was approved on a 72-18 vote. It now returns to the Senate for concurrence with House amendments. The Senate earlier passed it by 45-2.

The bill was delayed for several weeks in moving through the House because House Minority Leader Merle Boucher, D-Rolette, asked the attorney general if it was constitutional.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem’s opinion was that it is constitutional because it facilitates the free exercise of the agencies’ religions.

In North Dakota, most of the adoption agencies are religiously affiliated. They asked for the bill saying it would only “codify” their existing practices. They said that based on pressures placed on agencies in other parts of the country, they wanted to get the permission in the law.

Rep. Lonny Winrich, D-Grand Forks, questioned whether the bill also allows agencies to discriminate based on race or ethnicity. He voted against it, as did 14 other Democrats and three Republicans.

Specifically, the law will say that the state Department of Human Services can’t refuse to issue an adoption agency a license based on the agency’s exercise of its religious or moral convictions.