Foster Care Bill Could Place Kids By Religious Beliefs - WLNS TV 6 Lansing - Jackson | Your Local News Leader

More than 14,000 children in Michigan are in foster care and a new, proposed bill in the House aims to give adoption agencies the right to place a child based on their religious or moral beliefs.

Opponents say these bills could legalize discrimination and exclude some families who want to give foster children a loving home. Some say those beliefs could disenfranchise groups outside of traditional mainstream views.

"If you are from a gay or lesbian family, you should have the same rights to be able to be able to adopt children if you are a loving, responsible family," said Randy Block, Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network.

But the bill's sponsor Representative Ken Kurtz (R-Coldwater) is standing his ground.

"We shouldn't be challenged just because we are people of faith," he said. "I think the bill itself is not discriminatory in any way because it's not saying that someone can't have an adoption. Here's a group of people that adhere to a particular belief and I think we are obligated and should honor that particular belief."

Opponents say if the bill passes, it could be challenged as unconstitutional. But that threat isn't stopping lawmakers who'll meet again as early as next week.