by Mary Margaret Olohan
The United States Supreme Court has unanimously sided with a Catholic adoption agency in a religious freedom case regarding same sex unions.
The court ruled 9-0 that the city of Philadelphia’s refusal to contract with Catholic Social Services (CSS) unless CSS agreed to ‘certify same-sex couples as foster parents” violates CSS’s free exercise of the First Amendment.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who delivered the opinion of the court, wrote that “as an initial matter, it is plain that the City’s actions have burdened CSS’s religious exercise by putting it to the choice of curtailing its mission or approving relationships inconsistent with its beliefs.”
“The City disagrees,” he continued. “In its view, certification reflects only that foster parents satisfy the statutory criteria, not that the agency endorses their relationships. But CSS believes that certification is tantamount to endorsement. And ‘religious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection.’”
#BREAKING: Foster moms Sharonell Fulton and Toni Simms-Busch can continue fostering children in partnership with their faith-affirming foster agency, Catholic Social Services. #SCOTUS unanimously ruled just moments ago: https://t.co/uUocT5Nx8P #FreeToFoster @FreeToFoster pic.twitter.com/7DCRSXwg2u
— BECKET (@BECKETlaw) June 17, 2021
The justices repeatedly mention in their opinions on the ruling that CSS has provided foster care services to the city of Philadelphia for over 50 years, “continuing the centuries-old mission of the Catholic Church to serve Philadelphia’s needy children.”
“CSS holds the religious belief that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman,” the ruling said. “Because CSS believes that certification of prospective foster families is an endorsement of their relationships, it will not certify unmarried couples—regardless of their sexual orientation—or same-sex married couples. But other private foster agencies in Philadelphia will certify same-sex couples, and no same-sex couple has sought certification from CSS.”
The city of Philadelphia informed CSS that unless it would certify same-sex couples, the City would not refer children to the agency.
“The City explained that the refusal of CSS to certify same-sex married couples violated both a non-discrimination provision in the agency’s contract with the City as well as the non-discrimination requirements of the citywide Fair Practices Ordinance,” the ruling said.
“Today’s decision prohibits government sanctioned discrimination against religious adoption and foster care agencies because of their beliefs about marriage,” senior fellow with The Catholic Association Ashley McGuire said in a statement. “Catholic adoption agencies have been placing vulnerable children in loving homes for centuries without discriminating based on race, religion, sex, or disability.”
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Where have I heard that argument before about anti-discrimination violating one’s religion? Some religious groups used this argument as an excuse to discriminate against other races, other religions, and so forth. No, these same religious fundamentalists are using this flimsy argument to persecute gays. I thought our country by now had risen beyond such religious nonsense. As long as these adoption agencies choose to discriminate, they should get no government funding at all!
Well, William, you old left-wing radical, as the U. S. Supreme Court said just this week in the Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Case, and with NO DISSENTS I might add:
“CSS (Catholic Social Services of Philadelphia—hardly a religious ‘fundamentalist’ organization as you put it, but that is beside the point) seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else. The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless the agency agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny and violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.”
So, William, who are you trying to ‘kid?’