U.S. CAPITOL

HHS Rescinds Rule Protecting Faith-Based Foster Care, Adoption Agencies

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Nov. 18 rescinded a Trump administration rule that ensured faith-based social service agencies that provide adoption and foster care would continue receiving federal funding for services that follow their religious beliefs.

N.Y. Court to Reconsider Mandate for Abortion Coverage by Religious Groups

The Supreme Court sent a case back to a lower court Nov. 1 asking it to reconsider a ruling against the Diocese of Albany, New York, and other religious groups that challenged the state’s mandate requiring employers to provide abortion coverage in their employee health insurance plans.

Ruling Seen as Victory for Children, Foster Parents and Religious Liberty

As a consequence of the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling June 17 in Fulton v. Philadelphia, faith-based and other agencies across the country may not be forced by a government agency to violate their deeply held beliefs against placing children in households led by same-sex or cohabitating adults.