Lansing, Mich., Aug 22, 2019 / 16:30 pm
Parents of five adoptive children were present in court on Thursday in support of a Catholic adoption agency in Michigan that is threatened with closure by a new state policy.
"Political grandstanding should never come at the expense of vulnerable children," stated Melissa Buck, who with her husband Chad has adopted five children with special needs through St. Vincent Catholic Charities in Michigan.
Buck was speaking out against a new state requirement that adoption agencies match children with same-sex couples-regardless of the agencies' religious mission-in order to receive state funding.
"No one has ever been kept from adopting or fostering a child in need because of St. Vincent's religious beliefs," Buck stated on Aug. 22 after oral arguments in Buck v. Gordon, the challenge to Michigan's new policy, at the Western District Court of Michigan in Grand Rapids.