SCOTUS to decide on whether foster care orgs can exclude same-sex foster parents

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a case on whether Philadelphia is allowed to bar a Catholic nonprofit from working in the city’s foster care system because it excludes same-sex couples from serving as foster parents, The New York Times reports.

The City of Philadelphia stopped working with Catholic Social Services after discovering the organization’s policy discriminating against same-sex parents. The organization retaliated by suing the city on the basis of religious freedom and free speech, while the city has argued that the organization was not “constitutionally entitled to enter into government contracts.” Philadelphia has won out so far in the legal battle, particularly because it hasn’t been found to show any religiously based hostility toward the nonprofit; it still works with Catholic Social Services to operate other programs and has other religious organizations involved in its foster care system.

New York has similar rules barring providers from denying adoptions on the basis of gender of sexual orientation – which resulted in similar but unsuccessful litigation from an evangelical organization two years ago. This Supreme Court case may allow religious institutions to bypass requirements that they accept same-sex couples as foster parents.

And it’s not the only threat to such anti-discrimination rules. The Trump administration proposed a rule last fall that would let foster-care and adoption groups avoid working with LGBT families. If instituted, the rule could limit child placements significantly. One in five same-sex couples is raising an adopted child, according to a study from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, compared with 3% of different-sex couples.