Humanists Seek Loving Homes for All Children

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Sarah Henry, (202) 238-9088 ext. 105, shenry@americanhumanist.org

(October 28, 2019, Washington, D.C.) – Attorneys at the American Humanist Association (AHA) have joined with other organizational legal teams to submit an amicus brief in support of adoption services free from religious discrimination.

In December 2018, New Hope Family Services, a child welfare agency that receives public funding, filed a lawsuit arguing that a new regulation mandating nondiscrimination in adoption practices violated the agency’s religious freedom. Their complaint was dismissed by a district court in New York in May 2019, leading to the current appeal by the adoption agency.

“Publicly funded agencies cannot be allowed to use taxpayer dollars to discriminate against prospective adoptive families,” said Roy Speckhardt, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association. Speckhardt continued, “Every child deserves a stable, loving, and supportive family.”

The brief, co-signed by Monica Miller, American Humanist Association Legal Director and Senior Counsel, states that “religious freedom is not a freedom to discriminate.” Miller also noted that “exempting sectarian adoption agencies from anti-discrimination laws amounts to unconstitutional religious establishment.”

Read today’s brief here.