Oklahoma Gov. Fallin signed SB 1140, shielding religious-exemption foster and adoption agencies

On May 11, 2018, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed Senate Bill 1140 into law, creating a religious-exemption shield for the state's private child-placement agencies. The law allows agencies licensed to arrange foster care and adoption placements to decline to place, counsel, or refer a child for services that would violate the agency's written religious or moral convictions or policies.

The bill, authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat and Rep. Travis Dunlap, passed the Oklahoma Senate 33-7 and the House 56-21 on May 3, 2018, before reaching Fallin's desk. Fallin said in a statement that the law would not restrict LGBTQ people or same-sex couples from adopting or fostering children and that it maintained "the status quo" for placement practices she said had worked well for Oklahoma children, comparing it to a similar Virginia law enacted in 2012.

LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations condemned the signing. Oklahomans for Equality's board vice president Sharon Bishop-Baldwin called the decision "reprehensible," and the group said it was exploring legal action. The ACLU of Oklahoma's Allie Shinn said the law was "discriminatory, anti-family, anti-children, and anti-First Amendment," while Freedom Oklahoma executive director Troy Stevenson said his organization would pursue legal action, warning that children awaiting placement would be harmed by the shield.