Act Now to Ensure Conscience Protections for People of Faith
Action needed to advance HB 7111
and bring it to final passage this legislative session.
BACKGROUND: By providing conscience protections, HB 7111 protects religious adoption and foster care agencies from being forced to either violate their religious tenets or stop serving children in need of loving families. Without such a policy, Catholic Charities in Massachusetts, Illinois and California have had no choice but to severely restrict or discontinue their child-placement services.
As a "shield not a sword", HB 7111 ensures that people of faith maintain the freedom to serve the children and families of our state in accord with the convictions of faith and the structure of the law, while adding no new barriers to the adoption process for any qualified persons. For more information on the bill, click here.
A separate adoption-related measure, HB 7013, which provides incentives for adoption and also strikes from Florida law a long-standing prohibition on adoption by homosexual persons, has passed both the House and Senate and will go to Governor Rick Scott for action. Although a 2010 ruling by Florida's Third District Court of Appeal has allowed adoption by same-sex couples to become the practice throughout our state, striking the ban makes conscience protections for adoption agencies crucial.
On April 9, the Florida House of Representatives passed HB 7111. The Senate Rules Committee took testimony on the bill on Monday, April 20; however, the meeting ended before a vote on the measure.
TAKE ACTION NOW: Please send a message to urge Senate President Andy Gardiner to advance HB 7111 and support passage.
Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/K6fwhH7Tu2jOzztKaGYUNw