The Trump administration continues to be in the corner of people of faith. Two of the areas that have been addressed recently involves allowing faith-based adoption and foster care providers to be federally funded, yet without bowing to the demands of those pushing an LGBTQ agenda.
I think this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if you’ve been keeping up with the directives coming from the president.
For example, he moved to protect medical workers who wanted to opt-out of assisted suicides and abortions due to their religious beliefs.
He also stepped up to make sure that businesses could choose to not enroll in health insurance plans that cover abortion-inducing drugs and contraceptives.
There is one thing over which there is no controversy is the fact that there is an American foster care crisis.
A recent estimate tallied 443,000 children are in foster care right now, and about another 100,000 are awaiting adoption.
This from CBN News:
CBN News first broke the news on Friday that the Trump administration is proposing a move that would allow faith-based adoption and foster care providers to receive federal money without compromising their beliefs on traditional marriage.
A senior White House Official confirmed to us that Health and Human Services would be introducing new federal rules detailing that faith-based groups only need to adhere to nondiscrimination provisions passed by Congress, not any previous agency regulations. Back in 2016, the Obama Administration added sexual orientation language to an HHS rule, forcing faith-based groups to choose between their biblical beliefs on marriage or receiving federal money to serve their communities.
“This Administration is committed to doing rule-making right, and to removing regulatory barriers that prevent non-profits from doing what they do best—serving the needy and vulnerable in their communities,” according to this Senior White House Official. “The Administration is also fully committed to preserving the religious freedom rights of faith-based organizations, and we are proud to announce this proposed rule today doing just that.”
Since the new rule would apply to only laws passed by Congress, that means faith-based groups would have to comply with the three main federal laws on equality: the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. All of them protect citizens against religious discrimination but none of them mention sexual orientation.
In the days before President Obama left office, HHS added the controversial regulation with language covering sexual orientation. The Trump Administration rule would make that regulation null and void. Currently, if faith-based groups want to apply for federal funds, they must request a waiver from the Obama rule. The proposal, that will be announced Friday, is the first step in the regulatory process. There will be a time for public comment before it goes into effect. It is expected to be challenged in court.
