The Guardian newspaper is reporting that Catholic Care, a charity in northern England, has lost an appeal and will be required by Britain’s charity regulator to offer children for adoption to homosexual couples or stop offering adoption services. Since the British government imposed an anti-discrimination rule in 2007 other Catholic agencies have either ended their affiliation with the Catholic Church or have stopped adoption services altogether.
The Charity Commission cites a breach of European human rights laws as the basis for their decision to force Catholic Care out of the adoption business. In the United States, we’ve seen Boston Catholic Charities forced to withdraw from offering adoption because of anti-discrimination laws in Massachusetts that became hyper charged because of court imposed same-sex marriage.
What does this mean for other religious entities and individuals who have moral and ethical objections to same-sex behavior and same-sex marriage? We quote an issues brief from Becket Fund for Religious Liberty “Same-sex Marriage and State Anti-Discrimination Laws:”
We conclude that if same-sex marriage is recognized by courts or legislatures, people and institutions who have conscientious objections to facilitating same-sex marriage will likely be sued under existing anti-discrimination laws—laws never intended for that purpose. Lawsuits will likely arise when religious people or religious organizations choose, based on their sincerely held religious beliefs, not to hire individuals in same-sex marriage, refuse to extend spousal benefits to same-sex spouses, refuse to make their property or services available for same-sex marriage ceremonies or other events affirming same-sex marriage, or refuse to provide otherwise available housing to same-sex couples. This wide-ranging conflict between governments and conscientious citizens would take years of litigation to resolve, assuming it could be resolved…