Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Friday 4 May 2018

Oklahoma lawmakers pass religious veto on same-sex adoptions

By MITCHELL WILLETTS children into loving homes. ways obvious which agen-
Associated Press “I believe this bill aids and cies will work with them
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Okla- gets more people involved and which won’t, she said.
homa legislators approved in the system,” he said. If they make that first phone
a measure Thursday to But critics like Lori Ross, call and get denied, they
grant legal protections president of Foster Adopt may never try and adopt
to faith-based adoption Connect, a child place- again.
agencies that cite their reli- ment agency operating in “If you’re a single person,
gious beliefs for not placing Kansas and Missouri, con- or a gay person, or a di-
children in LGBT homes and tend the real problem is a vorced person, or you’re
Republicans in Kansas were lack of available families. Jewish, then you better
pushing a similar measure. Ross said for LGBT families think twice before you
The Oklahoma House’s 56- looking to adopt, it isn’t al- call,” Ross said.q
21 vote sent its measure
to Republican Gov. Mary
Fallin, who has not said New Mexico students
whether she would sign it. Kansas state Rep. Susan Humphries, R-Wichita, makes a point
It’s similar to laws in at least legislation, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at the Statehouse in Topeka, join walkout to support
in negotiations between the House and Senate over adoption
five other states.
In Kansas, negotiators for Kan.
the state House and Sen- Associated Press gun ownership
ate drafted a new version “This is a matter of activist case is still ongoing.
of a bill that would pre- groups who don’t like cer- In 2011, Illinois declined to
vent the state from barring tain religious beliefs and renew its state contract CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — parking lot, community
agencies from providing they want to use the power with Catholic Charities New Mexico teenagers members stood across the
foster care or adoption ser- of the government to crush adoption services due to joined with students from street holding American
vices if they refuse to place people that operate ac- its policy of refusing child across the U.S. in a school flags and cheering for the
children in homes violating cording to those religious placement to same-sex walkout to support gun teenagers.
their “sincerely held” reli- beliefs,” said Kansas Cath- couples. Catholic Charities ownership. “I support the Second
gious beliefs. The Senate olic Conference director has also stopped handling Students from schools in Amendment. I think there is
passed an earlier version in Michael Schuttloffel said. adoptions in Washington Carlsbad, Albuquerque a good reason for the Sec-
March, only to see it stall in LGBT-rights advocates ar- D.C., Massachusetts and and Santa Fe participated ond Amendment. It’s not a
the House. gue that enacting such a San Francisco over con- in the movement Wednes- gun issue. It’s a people is-
Supporters of such mea- law would sanction discrim- cerns they would be re- day called “Stand for the sue,” Valerie Murrill of Carls-
sures argue that the core ination and support it with quired to act against their Second,” which aims to bad said.
issue is protecting a group’s taxpayer dollars. TechNet, religious beliefs. raise awareness of Second Riley was named an hon-
right to live out its religious representing some of the In Kansas, both sides of Amendment rights. orary sheriff’s deputy last
faith, while critics see them biggest names in tech, in- the debate agree that the Carlsbad High School week by Eddy County Sher-
as attacks on LGBT rights. cluding Apple and Google, state’s foster care system student Will Riley had iff Mark Cage for his efforts
In Kansas, supporters hoped sent a letter to lawmakers is overloaded. The number launched the effort that in organizing the walkouts.
both legislative chambers in both states opposing of kids in need of homes spread to many schools In Albuquerque, students of
could vote on the new ver- their measures. has grown every year since across the country. Riley La Cueva High School left
sion of the bill Thursday, with “This vampire just won’t 2008, from 5,711 to 7,540 as and hundreds of his class- a morning class and held
the House going first. GOP die,” said Kansas state Sen. of March, according to the mates walked out about a rally. About 100 students
Gov. Jeff Colyer’s supports David Haley, a Kansas City Department of Children 20 minutes before the end participated, according to
it, with his administration ar- Democrat. and Families. of the school day Wednes- co-organizers Casey Bruno,
guing that it would encour- The Oklahoma bill cleared Supporters said that pass- day. 16, and Devon Van Leeu-
age faith-based groups to the GOP-controlled Legisla- ing the measure could en- The 18-year-old senior said wen, 15.
place more abused and ture over the boisterous ob- courage groups providing he wanted to show that “Our school safety is very
neglected children in state jections of Democrats. At limited services for the state not all members of his gen- important to our govern-
custody. one point, the chamber’s or doing only private adop- eration are advocating for ment and myself. I’m not
Backers of the Kansas bill presiding officer threat- tions to work more with the gun control. here to argue about that,
acknowledged that faith- ened to have a member state. Colyer’s administra- “I was just really proud to but I am here to make sure
based agencies have forcibly removed. tion has said some out-of- give a platform for people our Second Amendment
been operating in Kansas Texas, Alabama, South Da- state agencies could be who felt like they were be- is kept safe and upheld,”
for decades without issue. kota, Virginia and Michi- attracted to Kansas. ing ignored, and I thought Van Leeuwen said.
But they fear that lawsuits gan already have such In Oklahoma, sponsoring I was able to break the si- The demonstration showed
or turnover among state of- laws in place. Michigan’s state Sen. Greg Treat, an lence,” Riley said. students and government
ficials could result in an en- ACLU chapter took the Oklahoma City Republi- As students marched from officials that there’s anoth-
vironment hostile to some state to court last year over can, said he believes his the main building at Carls- er perspective in the ongo-
religious groups’ views. its adoption law, and the measure will help get more bad High to the student ing debate, Bruno said. q