MONTGOMERY, Alabama, April 20, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey will sign a bill protecting faith-based adoption agencies from being forced to place children with same-sex couples.
The Alabama Child Placing Agency Inclusion Act passed the Alabama House of Representatives 60-14 and the Senate 23-9. All Senate Democrats and one Republican, Sen. Steve Livingston of District 8, voted against it.
Ivey spokeswoman Eileen Jones told the Washington Blade that Ivey, a Republican, “plans to sign it pending a legal review.”
“This act seeks to ensure that people of any faith, or no faith at all, are free to serve children and families who are in need in ways consistent with the communities that first inspired their service,” the bill says. “Child placing agencies, both individuals and organizations, have the inherent, fundamental, and inalienable right to free exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
About 30 percent of Alabama's adoption agencies are religious.
Rep. Patricia Todd, D-54, who identifies as a lesbian, called the bill “bigotry in the first degree.” She accused the Act of suggesting she is “not qualified to be a fit parent … based on the fact that I love a woman.”
The senate just passed the adoption discrimination bill. Thank the dems and shame the republicans
— Patricia Todd (@reptodd) April 19, 2017
In March, the governor of South Dakota signed a similar bill protecting adoption agencies.
Ivey has been in office for less than a month. Her predecessor, former Gov. Robert Bentley, was forced to resign amid a sex and ethics scandal.
Ivey is a member of the National Pro-Life Women's Caucus and is endorsed by the Susan B. Anthony List.
“I am pleased to join other leaders from across the nation in this effort to advance pro-life issues,” Ivey said when she joined the Caucus. “Alabama continues to be a leader in promoting a strong pro-life agenda and I am proud to champion this issue on a national level.”