Mandatory Conversion Therapy for Foster Children, Refusal to Allow Blood Relatives to Adopt All Now Legal

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed into law a wide-sweeping bill that allows adoption agencies and child placement services to refuse same-sex couples, or people of a faith contrary to their own to adopt children. HB 3859 will now actually allow, for example, a state-funded adoption agency to refuse to allow a Jewish family to adopt a child who is a blood relative, or a Catholic agency to refuse to allow a single woman who has children of her own to adopt, all in the name of "religious freedom."

Ironically, the bill's author, Republican State Rep. James Frank, explains in this video that his bill is necessary because there is a "capacity crisis" – not enough adoption agencies for all the children in need of homes. And he says, "we don't have enough people involved" in the foster care system. It's unclear how reducing the number of eligible parents will resolve that crisis.

As NCRM reported in late May when the bill had passed both Houses of the Texas legislature, the text of the bill makes clear its true intent. Read more via NCRM