SYRACUSE, New York, October 16, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – A Christian adoption agency which only places children with married couples of one father and one mother, has received a court ruling allowing it continue operating, after the agency was ordered to change its policy or close.
In 2018, New Hope Family Services was told by the New York Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) to alter their position as it fell foul of the New York adoption policies.
The OCFS continued by claiming that New Hope’s position was “discriminatory and impermissible” against same-sex couples, and that the agency must reverse its policy or close. It required the agency to state “that placement with unmarried or same sex couples is in the best interests of the child.”
New Hope clearly identifies as a Christian agency, and states that its “policy is an exercise of its religious faith.”
Consequently, New Hope filed a lawsuit seeking both preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, to halt OCFS from preventing them from finding homes for children through adoption. They stated that OCFS were forcing them to “violate their religious convictions and say things that they believe to be false—or shut their doors.”
The appeal for preliminary injunction was turned down in 2019, prompting New Hope to turn to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed the original decision in July of this year.
There, the Court of Appeals ruled that there was “a plausible suspicion that OCFS acted with hostility towards New Hope because of the latter’s religious beliefs.”
The case returned to the New York District court, where New Hope emerged victorious in the proceedings on October 5. They were granted a preliminary injunction and the court ordered that “OCFS may not revoke New Hope’s perpetual authorization to place children for adoption during the pendency of this litigation.”
It declared that OCFS’s action “demonstrates some animosity towards particular religious beliefs.”
Roger Brooks, the senior counsel from Alliance Defending Freedom, New Hope’s legal counsel, said in a statement issued in response to the victory that government officials have no business forcing faith-based providers to choose between contradicting their religious convictions and closing their doors.
PETITION UPDATE (9/26/2020):
With President Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we are closer than we have been in decades to seeing Roe vs. Wade overturned.
We now encourage the Senate to confirm Barrett as the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
Judge Barrett has a fantastic track recond on sanctity of life issues, has seven children, and is a devout believer. She is the perfect remedy for Ruth Bader Ginsburg's radical pro-abortionism.
Please READ the full story here: 'BREAKING: Trump nominates Catholic mom of 7 Judge Amy Coney Barrett to Supreme Court'
And then, please SIGN this petition telling the High Court that it's now time to end the activist Roe vs. Wade judgment. Thank you!
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PETITION UPDATE (6/29/2020):
In a decision which has imperiled more abortion-minded women, sentenced more preborn to death, and upset pro-lifers across the nation,the United States Supreme Court decided 5-4 to strike down a Louisiana law requiring basic medical precautions in the event of abortion complications, with Chief Justice John Roberts reversing his own past decision to uphold a similar Texas law.
Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion, which held that the Louisiana law was unconstitutional for the simple fact that it was “almost word-for-word identical” to the Texas one the court already struck down in 2016.
In his concurring opinion, Chief Justice Roberts acknowledged that he had “joined the dissent in Whole Woman’s Health and continue to believe that the case was wrongly decided. The question today however is not whether Whole Woman’s Health was right or wrong, but whether to adhere to it in deciding the present case.”
We call on the Supreme Court to stop supporting the culture of death and overturn Roe vs Wade, now.
PETITION UPDATE (1/20/2020):
Hundreds of thousands of people will gather in Washington, D.C., this coming Friday, January 24th, for the March for Life. They will be praying for an end to Roe vs Wade, as the Supreme Court will hear a crucial, abortion-related case later this year in March. United our voices can change the course of history. Sign this petition TODAY! (LEARN MORE BELOW)
PETITION UPDATE (1/3/2020):
In advance of the Supreme Court's hearing arguments in an important abortion case later this year in March, 207 U.S. Senators and Representatives have signed amicus briefs supporting a Louisiana law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at a hospital nearby an abortion center.
Some of these supporting briefs also suggest that now is the time to reconsider Roe vs Wade as sound law.
Please SIGN this petition, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down Roe vs Wade.
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More than 60 million Americans have been slaughtered in their mother's wombs as a result of Roe v. Wade. This activist, unconstitutional ruling in 1973 has left countless women emotionally and psychologically scarred.
It was believed by many that Roe would be overturned in 1992 with Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Despite having eight Republican-appointed judges at the time, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to uphold it.
Since then, major gains have been made in the fight for life, and many lives have been saved.
However, Roe v. Wade remains the law of the land, leaving millions of defenseless pre-born children vulnerable to murder.
According to a 2016 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35% of aborted babies are African American, despite black women only making up six percent of the U.S. population. 19% of aborted babies are Hispanic.
We thus again call on the court to do everything they can to end Roe vs Wade.
Now is the time for pro-lifers to join together and ensure that all of God's children have a right to life.
Roe v. Wade must come to an end!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/supreme-court-strikes-down-louisiana-abortion-regulations
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/over-200-congressmen-as-us-supreme-court-to-reconsider-roe-v-wade
“The need for adoption services in New York, whether public or private, is huge, and New Hope’s faith-guided services do not coerce anyone and do nothing to interfere with other adoption providers who have different beliefs about family and the best interests of children,” Brooks said.
“Today’s ruling signals that the state’s attempt to shutter New Hope violated core rights protected by the First Amendment…this ruling means that New Hope can continue offering the exceptional support it has provided for decades while its lawsuit challenging the state’s unconstitutional policy continues,” he continued.
New Hope describes itself as “Christ’s hands extended to offer help and hope to those with pregnancy, parenting and post-abortion needs in the Syracuse area; and with adoption needs throughout New York State.” The organisation receives no state funding and relies entirely on donations.
The organisation holds that there are two sexes, male and female, made by God, and it is the union of man and wife in marriage which is the best place to raise children.
Since its founding in 1965, it has “placed over 1,000 children into loving adoptive homes throughout the State of New York” and the organisation says that, through its adoption programme, it “strives to save the lives of babies that God has created.”