From Americans United for Separation of Church and State (http://www.au.org):
As people of faith, we believe that all children and families touched by our child-welfare system must be treated with dignity and respect, free from discrimination.
We urge you today to ask your elected officials to co-sponsor the John Lewis Every Child Deserves A Family Act at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeBFxf4AxeFsnx2Um0NuZvKzr5w4B3KxcmuGVoYTJ5BPw9Wmw/viewform.
This critical bill will ensure that every child experiences the love, care, and security that they deserve. It would bar discrimination in federally funded foster care and adoption services based on religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and marital status. And it would promote care that is affirming of a child’s identity, providing extensive resources to child-welfare providers to improve the outcomes for the LGBTQ+ youth, who are dramatically overrepresented in care.
Unfortunately, some states have laws that allow taxpayer-funded, child-welfare agencies to misuse religious freedom to turn away prospective parents and, in some cases, limit services to children due to their religion, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Such discriminatory practices break the cardinal rule of child welfare: to always act in the best interests of the child.
Americans United is committed to protecting religious freedom for all by ensuring that it is not misused to deny children and families essential rights and protections.
Join us in signing the letter and calling on our representatives to do the right thing.
Moments like these present an opportunity for religious leaders to reaffirm our support for vulnerable communities. More than 700 faith leaders and organizations have signed this letter in support of this important piece of legislation. In the words of children’s rights activist Marian Wright Edelman, “If we don’t stand up for children, then we don’t stand for much.”
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