Grand Rapids, Michigan
Adoption agency wins ‘discrimination’ battle
A Catholic adoption agency has won a court battle against the state of Michigan, in what religious freedom advocates immediately hailed as a landmark case.
The state had tried to exclude agencies which declined to place children with same-sex couples – effectively banning St Vincent Catholic Charities. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty sued the state, on behalf of St Vincent Catholic Charities and a married couple who have adopted five children with special needs. District Judge Robert Jonker (pictured) ruled that “The state’s real goal is not to promote non-discriminatory child placements, but to stamp out St Vincent’s religious belief and replace it with the state’s own.”
