PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — On Tuesday, a federal appeals court heard opening arguments in a case alleging the Oregon Department of Human Services prohibited a mother from adopting children because of to her religion.
Jessica Bates first filed a complaint against the department in April 2023. The agency tells potential adoptive families they must “support the child’s whole identity,” including their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.
Court documents from Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian legal nonprofit representing the plaintiff, allege that ODHS rejected Bates’ adoption application after she said she would “gladly love and accept any child for who they are, but she cannot say or do anything against her Christian faith.”
Records show that Bates would “not agree to use a hypothetical child’s preferred pronouns or facilitate a hypothetical gender transition.”
Springfield-based attorney Rebekah Schultheiss argued the state policy impacts potential adoptees by keeping them in ODHS' foster care system, which included 4,597 children by the end of last year. The attorney also argued the Oregon agency violated the U.S. Constitution by penalizing Bates for her religious beliefs.
The plaintiffs requested a preliminary injunction that would have stopped the human services department from enforcing their adoption policy, and allowed Bates to continue with the process.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon denied the injunction in November, stating that “refusal to, at the very least, respect a child's LGBTQ+ identity imposes collateral harm on the child's development, safety, and physical well-being."
Bates later filed a notice to appeal the decision. According to the opening brief, she is a single mother of five children because her husband died in a car crash in 2017.
The human services department said it cannot comment on pending litigation, but it stands by its adoption policies.
“In light of recent attention on agency policies, the Oregon Department of Human Services stands in support with the LGBTQIA2S+ community and affirms its commitment to gender inclusivity in all aspects of our work,” ODHS said in a statement. “We are committed to our Equity North Star and its values of inclusivity, equity, service and well-being.”
