Attorneys General Call Out Biden Admin Plan That Would Effectively Ban Christians From Fostering Children

Many progressives can't stand Christians. God limits their power. The solution? Get rid of Christians. How? Go after the children. In a bold move to cement radical left ideology into the mainstream, the Biden administration is attempting to institute a new rule that would effectively ban Christians from becoming foster parents. The Department of Health and Human Services' " Safe and Appropriate Foster Care Placement Requirements " seek to ensure that foster parents and families use a foster child’s "identified pronouns, chosen name, and allow the child to dress in an age-appropriate manner that the child believes reflects their self-identified gender identity and expression." What the proposal doesn't say is that any faithful Christian family could not in good conscience follow the rules, so faithful Christians would be denied the opportunity to help kids in need of foster homes. It also doesn't say the requirement would effectively gut the foster care system because it relies on people of faith to provide for children in need. Now 19 Republican attorneys general are demanding the Biden administration change course from their radical ideological plan to exclude Christians from the foster care program. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall sent a letter to HHS on Monday advising that the proposal "violates the Constitution and discriminates against people who practice the Christian faith." The letter, co-signed by 18 other GOP state attorneys general, was addressed to Aysha Schomburg, associate commissioner in the Children's Bureau, part of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services. "The proposed rule infringes on the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech, fundamental rights preserved by the First Amendment," the letter says. "The Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected attempts by the government to exclude foster care providers based on religious beliefs or to mandate speech on private actors. "The proposed rule also will harm children, harm families, and harm States, all to advance an ideology. HHS should reject the proposed rule." In its summary , the proposed new rule says, "Federal law also requires that for children ages 14 and over, agencies must consult with them about their case plans." This amounts to asking teenagers who are not old enough to drive a car, vote or buy alcohol to make choices about their bodies based on hormone-induced emotions. It's a recipe for confusion that necessarily leads to tragedy. Agencies, according to the summary, will "review requirements for children in foster care who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender , queer or questioning, intersex, as well as children who are non-binary, or have non-conforming gender identity or expression (all of whom are referred to under the umbrella term LGBTQI+ for purposes of this regulation)." In other words, foster families -- instead of instilling values -- will be mandated to allow foster children to make up their own values by choosing an identity based not on fact but feeling. If a potential foster child said, "I feel like a cat," would the foster parent be obligated to go out and buy a litter box? The letter sent to HHS made it clear that states "need faith-based organizations in their foster care system. The proposed rule will drive individuals and organizations of faith away, which will increase the strain on the system by reducing the number of available foster homes. The federal government should be searching for ways to increase the number of foster homes, not decrease them." To drive the point home, the letter also said the number of children in the foster care system -- according to HHS numbers -- will increase to about 416,500 by 2027. In 2022, there were about 391,000 children in foster care, according to Fox News . Yes, more foster homes are needed. But when the federal government is controlled by mad-dog progressive ideologues, it isn't at all concerned with children in need of help. Their idea is to destroy the family, not strengthen it. Marshall Letter by The Western Journal on Scribd

The attorneys general's letter also makes it clear that "caring for children in need is a duty of the Christian faith . The foster care system depends on individuals and organizations of faith." In Arkansas, for example, a single faith-based group recruited almost half of the foster homes in the state, the attorneys general contend. In another example, every private placement agency is Christian in New Mexico. Marshall went so far as to accuse the president of badgering Alabama and like-minded states, saying in a statement Tuesday, "Joe Biden continues to harass our State and others like it by implicitly threatening to withhold federal funding for children in need if we do not conform to his ideology, but our values are not for sale." "Since the first century, Christians across the globe have answered the call to provide a home and a family to children who had neither," he continued. "Alabama boasts a particularly strong faith-based foster care and adoption community, and I will fight this Administration for them every step of the way." That's the spirit. We need more of it. Make no mistake, the radical progressives are deluded to the point of believing they are able to create reality. For them, truth -- which Jesus spelled out plainly with, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life" -- is merely an obstacle on the way to the absolute power of their own godhood. Shame on them.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal .