SCOTUS to hear case that may allow foster orgs to discriminate against LGBT parents

While the outcome of the presidential election remains at the forefront of Americans’ minds, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Wednesday for a case that may allow religious organizations to bar same-sex couples from becoming foster parents. 

The case was brought forward after the city of Philadelphia stopped working with a Catholic nonprofit because of the organization’s policy excluding same-sex foster parents. Catholic Social Services has argued the city’s decision to end its contract amounted to a violation of its free speech and religious expression rights, but the city has countered that the organization was not “constitutionally entitled to enter into government contracts.” 

As conservatives now hold a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court since Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation, it seems likely that the court would side with the nonprofit. Such a decision could have drastic and broader implications for religious exceptions to anti-discrimination laws and for the government’s authority to impose regulations on its contractors. 

Ronald Richter, CEO of the child welfare organization JCCA, wrote in a USA Today op-ed that the implementation of such discriminatory rules would have barred him and his spouse from adopting their own daughter. 

“If the court takes us backwards and allows tax-exempt organizations to discriminate against LGBTQ Americans, there may be widespread impacts on access to all social services,” he wrote, “because we have steadily privatized social services and contracted out to tax-exempt organizations, many of which were founded as religious charities.”