Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill Wednesday making it legal for private faith-based adoption agencies to turn away gay couples. The new law does not apply to agencies that receive state or federal funding. The bill, known as the Alabama Child Placing Agency Inclusion Act, was approved last month by the state Senate in a vote of 23-9. All eight Senate Democrats voted against the bill, along with one Republican senator, Steve Livingston. At the time, Senator Rodger Smitherman of Birmingham said the bill would “sanction discrimination.” Representative Patricia Todd, who is openly gay, shared a similar view, calling the bill “bigotry in the first degree.”
Despite this outspoken dissent, the bill was approved last week by an 87-0 vote in the House of Representatives, with six representatives abstaining. In a statement on Wednesday, Governor Ivey said she “ultimately signed [the bill] because it ensures hundreds of children can continue to find ‘forever homes’ through religiously-affiliated adoption agencies.” Ivy went on: “This bill is not about discrimination, but instead protects the ability of religious agencies to place vulnerable children in a permanent home.”
The governor’s words echoed earlier rhetoric from Republican senators, who defended the bill on the grounds that secular adoption agencies remain available to gay couples. “Those individuals who want to go that route have that route,” said Senate President pro tempore Adelbert Marsh. “What we’re trying to do is say [sic], ‘OK, you also can’t discriminate against religious organizations who want the ability to place these kids where they think they’d be best suited.’”