Taxpayer Supported Religious Groups Should Not Be Granted A License to Discriminate

LINCOLN, Neb – Today the Nebraska Legislature Judiciary Committee advanced LB 975, a bill that would allow Nebraska child welfare agencies to refuse to work with prospective foster or adoptive parents because of the agencies religious beliefs. The ACLU of Nebraska opposes this legislation and released the following statement from Executive Director Danielle Conrad:

“The ACLU believes this legislation is suspect from a legal, policy, and fiscal standpoint- even with proposed amendments. Nebraska’s leading child welfare experts have clearly stated that this legislation is not needed. Recent polling shows a clear a majority of Nebraskans believe discrimination against LGBT Nebraskans in the child welfare system is wrong. Rather than hurting our most vulnerable kids and risking costly civil rights litigation and a loss of up to $30 million in federal funding, lawmakers should reject this flawed legislation. LB 975 does nothing to address the needs of Nebraska’s vulnerable children languishing in the child welfare system. It is simply a license to discriminate for government contractors who want their religious beliefs to come ahead of the best interests of our children.

“Given the incredibly high number of children languishing in Nebraska’s child welfare system our state should be working to find more safe and loving homes not working to authorize discrimination against qualified foster and adoptive families. Loving adoptive families come in all shapes and sizes and deserve nothing less than fairness when dealing with their government and government contractors paid for by taxpayer dollars.”