Sally Kern bill that restricts same-sex couple access to adoption services sent to House vote

(Oklahoma City) A state House committee passed and sent a bill to the House floor which could cause same-sex couples to be refused as foster care or adoptive parents. The intent of the HB 2428, authored by state Rep. Sally Kern, is to "prevent the state from refusing to contract with a child welfare service provider, if that provider has declined, or will decline, to provide, facilitate or refer for a child welfare service that conflicts with…the provider’s sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions….”

The consequence of the bill is to allow child welfare service providers to refuse to place children with same-sex couples, and probably with unmarried couples or single parents for foster care or adoption. They could not be penalized for that refusal.

Oklahoma has no such protections in its laws. During the discussion about HB 2428, Rep. Jason Nelson had offered an amendment that cited the Oklahoma Constitution’s protection against infringement of religious freedom.

Then why have the bill, asked Democratic Rep. Ben Sherrer. In questioning of Rep. Nelson, Sherrer said, “In fact, the constitutional provision you are referring to - does it not offer the protection that this bill is seeking to offer?”

Rep. Nelson replied, “We do this in a lot of areas. The law would then clarify how the constitution applies in this situation.”

The protections sought are similar to those claimed by Catholic Charities over the last several years. The organization chose to shut down its foster care and adoption agencies in states with same-sex marriage or civil unions, rather than place children in same-sex couple homes. Generally, the states involved also had protections preventing discrimination against LGBTQ people.

The bill specifically does not allow such refusals based on race, color or national origin, by citing federal law on that matter. It is so deceitfully written that it never includes the words LGBTQ, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other words that point directly to LGBTQ people. But “provider’s sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions” has become a code phrase in countless proposed laws across the country.

These laws use a common right-wing device of naming a bill with a high-sounding name that directly contradicts its actual intent. For example, most of the bills are called “religious protection” or “religious freedom” bills, when they actually are a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people, couples, and in some cases an even broader category – marital status. In some poorly written bills, that category could exclude single mothers, unwed parents, and even mixed race couples.

HB 2428 would be cited as the “Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act of 2016.” In fact, it would not include LGBTQ persons or couples as providers. There are hundreds, if not thousands of children in ‘the system’ who want, and deserve, nothing more than a loving home, and parents to care for them.

This bill reduces the number of parents capable of caring for, or adopting a child, when the state needs every qualified parent it can find.

Reps. John Jordan, Sally Kern, Tom Newell, Pat Ownbey and Pam Peterson, all Republicans, voted to pass the bill to the floor. Democratic Reps. Ben Sherrer and George Young both voted no. The next steps will be debate on the floor of the House, and if passed, it will go to the Senate for consideration by its committees, and possibly to the floor for a vote.

Watch The Gayly, our website www.Gayly.com and our Facebook pages for continued coverage of HB 2428 and the other nearly two dozen anti-LGBTQ bills being considered by the legislature.

The Gayly – February 16, 2016 @ 2:10 p.m.