The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘Religious liberty’ legislation sets sights on adoptions
“Religious liberty” made its 2020 debut last week at the General Assembly.
This time, it took the form of a bill that would allow faith-based adoption agencies to refuse to place children with couples on religious grounds.
That could mean atheists, people of another faith or same-sex couples.
State Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, said his legislation, Senate Bill 368, aims to “preserve choice” for birth mothers who want to ensure their children grow up in a particular religious background. It would also protect agencies with religious roots, he said.
“Religious liberty” bills pop up nearly every year at the Legislature. A previous measure proposed allowing faith-based organizations to deny services to those who violate their “sincerely held religious belief ” and to preserve their right to fire employees who aren’t in accord with those beliefs. It cleared the General Assembly before succumbing to a veto by then-Gov. Nathan Deal.
Supporters say such legislation would add a layer of protection for people of faith. Critics, however, say the measures could allow discrimination against groups such as lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.
Democrats in the state have generally opposed such measures. But the real fights occur within Georgia’s
dominant Republican Party, pitting social conservatives against other party members more in line with the state’s business interests.
That played out again last week, when officials from the Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce quickly opposed Harbin’s bill, saying the proposal “limits options for children in need of a permanent home and takes us further away from our goal of attracting investments that improve the lives of Georgia families.”
Some members of the Senate Republican leadership have signed on as co-sponsors of SB 368, but it could hit a roadblock in the House. Speaker David Ralston said before the session that he didn’t want to see religious liberty bills similar to measures proposed in 2018 that almost scuttled adoption legislation then.
Gov. Brian Kemp is a question mark on the bill.
When he was running for governor, he said he would sign religious liberty legislation, but only if it didn’t go beyond the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That 1993 measure, which President Bill Clinton signed into law, requires the federal government to prove a “compelling governmental interest” before it interferes with a person’s exercise of religion.
But the governor was vague early in the session when he was asked whether he would try to preemptively block legislation to allow adoption agencies to refuse to work with LGBTQ people. He said he would deal with the issue “when the time comes.”
That time is here.