Similar adoption bills are being considered in Kansas and Colorado, and at least seven other states have already passed such laws.
Oklahoma resident Lupe Tovar entered the foster-care system when she was just 6 years old, but it wasn’t until she was 32 and had long since aged out of the system, that she was formally adopted by her two dads.
“I was one of those young people who aged out and didn’t think it would ever happen,” she said of her adoption by her long-time mentors. “I am now loved beyond what I can almost handle.”
Now in her mid-30s, Tovar is afraid other Oklahomans will not have the opportunity to find the type of love she was able to obtain — even if much later than she had hoped.
The Republican-controlled legislature in Oklahoma passed a bill on Thursday that LGBTQ advocates say would allow religious-based adoption agencies to discriminate against same-sex couples, single people and non-Christians. The bill is now headed toward the governor’s desk.
SB1140, which passed the House by a vote of 60-26, would allow child placement agencies to refuse to place a child if “the proposed placement would violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions or policies.” At present, the bill only applies to private placement services that receive no state or federal funds, but supporters are trying to extend the religious exemption to agencies that do receive government funding.
Tovar said it is “heartbreaking” that the opportunity to be adopted “could be taken away” from others in need of a family, particularly in the name of religion. “We are a Christian family,” she said of herself and her dads.
Similar adoption laws to the one being pushed through in Oklahoma have been passed in at least seven other states, including Alabama, South Dakota and Texas last year. Kansas and Colorado are currently considering similar legislation.
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