Indiana Enacts Law Protecting Faith-Based Foster Care Providers From Discrimination

Indiana has enacted legislation protecting faith-based foster care providers from being barred from the system because of their religious beliefs about gender and sexuality. The law comes after couples in multiple states were blocked from serving as foster parents due to their conviction that marriage is between a man and a woman or their refusal to affirm a child's gender transition. Alliance Defending Freedom supported the measure, which ensures that religious organizations and individuals can continue participating in the foster care system without abandoning the doctrinal positions that motivated their service in the first place. With tens of thousands of children awaiting placement in the American foster care system, advocates argue that excluding willing families over theological disagreements harms the very children the system is designed to protect.