Alabama Gov. Ivey signed HB24, shielding religious-exemption adoption and foster agencies

On May 3, 2017, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed House Bill 24, the "Child Placing Agency Inclusion Act," into law as Act No. 2017-213. The law bars the state from withholding a license, refusing a contract, or denying funding to a private, state-licensed child-placing agency because the agency declines, on religious grounds, to provide a placement or other service that conflicts with its written religious beliefs. The protection applies only to agencies that do not accept state or federal funds.

The bill passed the Alabama House and Senate with heavy support before reaching Ivey's desk. In a statement, Ivey said she signed the bill "because it ensures hundreds of children can continue to find forever homes through religiously-affiliated adoption agencies," calling it a protection of religious agencies' ability to place children rather than an act of discrimination. Rep. Rich Wingo, the bill's Republican sponsor, said it would protect faith-based groups such as Agape and Baptist Children's Homes.

Advocacy groups condemned the signing. Human Rights Campaign Alabama state director Eva Kendrick said the legislature and governor "took on this unnecessary, discriminatory bill instead of focusing on how to improve the lives of all Alabamians," adding that the law's intent was "to discriminate, causing the most harm to children in Alabama's child welfare system." The ACLU of Alabama said the law would most likely be used to discriminate against same-sex couples, while also creating the possibility that agencies could refuse interfaith couples, single parents, or previously divorced parents. Southern Poverty Law Center deputy legal director David Dinielli said the law was intended "to target LGBT kids and stigmatize LGBT families."