Plus a brand-new video!
By Autumn Leva, Vice President of Strategy for Family Policy Alliance®
Many believers may not have much personal experience in the world of child welfare—I confess I didn’t either until I started working on this issue for Family Policy Alliance.
But here’s what makes the most common sense to me. When a birth mother wants or needs to place her child for adoption, she should be able to choose which adoption agency she works with. Similarly, adoptive families should be free to choose an agency that best aligns with their values.
And, no matter what, every child in need of a family and every courageous birthmom who pursues adoption should be at the center of every state’s adoption policies.
What do you think?
Here are a few reasons we think Christian adoption agencies need to matter to everyone, both believers and nonbelievers, those involved in adoption and those who never will be.
And be sure to check out this new video!
Christian adoption agencies matter…to everyone!
Shutting down faith-based adoption agencies is one of the Left’s newest tactics to silence people of faith. They believe that an agency that operates as a ministry, not a business, such as by placing children in homes with a married mother and father, shouldn’t be allowed in the state.
For example, in Colorado, when a bill was introduced to protect the right of faith-based agencies to continue to operate according to their beliefs, a Senator from Boulder admitted on-record that he believes that faith-based agencies should be shut down, rather than serving children and families!
If the Left succeeds at shutting down even ministries that do one of the most honorable works that exists—finding families for children in need—then the right of believers to freely live out their faith, or the right of anyone who disagrees with the government’s view on any particular issue to speak out, is severely threatened.
This is why protecting faith-based adoption agencies matters to everyone—if faith-based ministries that care for children can be silenced, then no one’s right to speak or live out their beliefs is safe.
Christian adoption agencies matter to birthmoms
Placing a child for adoption can be an extremely difficult time for a birthmother. When a birthmom is free to choose an agency that she believes will meet her needs, as well as help her place her child in a home that best aligns with her hopes and values for her child, she will be better supported throughout the entire process.
In fact, many faith-based agencies work specifically to minister to birthmothers, providing them care, support, and counseling—even if they ultimately choose not to place their child for adoption.
Christian adoption agencies matter to adoptive families
Many adoptive parents come to adoption from a place of grief and hurting in their own struggle to have children, and the wait for an adoptive child can be long and difficult. Adoptive families should be free to work with an agency they trust to meet their needs as they prepare their home for an adoptive child. Agencies that better understand the family’s values will be the best to support that family on their journey to adoption.
Plus, practicing Christians are twice as likely to adopt a child. When Christian families are free to work with agencies that share their values, we can continue to ensure that even more believers are heeding the biblical call to care for the orphans and the widows.
Christian adoption agencies matter to children
The best way to help children in need of a forever home is to increase opportunities for them to find a forever family and prevent even more children landing in the states’ already backed-up foster care system. Ensuring that faith-based agencies can continue their ministries in every state provides more opportunities for children to be served by even more agencies and families.
Plus, faith-based adoption agencies excel at finding homes for hard-to-place children—those with special needs, older children, and the severely abused.
Here’s how you can help protect faith-based agencies and the families they serve in your state:
Congress is considering a federal bill that would ensure that states that receive taxpayer dollars for any child welfare programs can’t exclude faith-based adoption agencies from operating in their states.
Family Policy Alliance has been working in coalition with other national allies to support this bill, and we need your help to get the message to every U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator that this bill is important to all of us!
Please help by using our Action Center to send a message instantly to your own Representative and two Senators, asking them to support this bill. It takes less than 2 minutes to add your name and click send!
