Nov. 4, 2020
WASHINGTON —Three bishop chairmen of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have issued a statement on the oral arguments held today before the Supreme Court of the United States in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia.
Read full statement on the USCCB website
In March 2018 the City of Philadelphia issued an urgent call to find 300 new foster parents for the more than 6,000 kids in Philadelphia’s foster care system. Later that month, the City barred Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from placing children with foster families because the City disagreed with the agency’s religious beliefs. Several foster parents, including Sharonell Fulton, who has fostered more than 40 kids through Catholic Social Services, filed a lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia for their discriminatory policy when there is a desperate need for loving foster parents. (Read more at Becket Law)
On June 3, 2020, the USCCB filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Sharonell Fulton, Toni Lynn Simms-Busch, and Catholic Social Services, which may be read here.
Closer to home
Similarly, a lawsuit filed in April 2019 in the state Court of Claims by Catholic Charities West Michigan (CCWM) is ongoing. The suit argues that a legal settlement reached by state Attorney General Nessel in March 2019 prohibiting state-contracted adoption and foster care agencies from turning away same-sex couples discriminates against religious institutions and puts CCWM’s adoption and foster care ministry at risk of closure. This ruling changed a State law passed in 2015 that allowed foster care and adoption agencies to refer couples or individuals to another agency if they could not accept them as clients due to the agency’s closely-held religious beliefs. A federal hearing scheduled in Detroit for Aug. 21, 2019, was delayed indefinitely.
View additional information on the Alliance Defending Freedom website.
Learn more about Catholic Charities West Michigan’s adoption and foster care programs.
