Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Nation's Top Family Lawyers Oppose State Religious Exemption Laws for Adoption

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), an organization comprised of the nation’s top 1,650 family law attorneys, today announced that it has adopted a resolution supporting the equal treatment of all qualified parents - regardless of gender or sexual orientation – throughout the process of placing children in foster care or adoption.  The Academy has become increasingly concerned that discrimination has crept into a number of States, in the form of “religious exemption laws,” that allow individuals and organizations to negatively target potential parents and to engage in prejudicial behavior based upon their own personal beliefs. 

“We firmly believe that protecting the best interests of a child should be one of the highest priorities in the practice of matrimonial law,” said Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. “The Academy urges every State to support legislation that ensures equal treatment of all qualified parents, which would help to ultimately place more foster children in permanent homes.”    

In all, the Academy’s resolution calls for States to create or alter policies in order to ensure that the best interests of children in foster care override any form of discriminatory treatment of potential parents that might be based upon gender identity or sexual orientation.  In addition, the AAML will be working with its State Chapters to help further support measures that can close adoption shortage gaps, which may have been worsened by any discriminatory approval practices.

The AAML Resolution Against Discriminatory Practices In The Placement Of Foster Care & Adoption has been posted on the group’s website at:  www.aaml.org.  It has been crafted by the AAML LGBT Committee, which is dedicated to helping same-sex couples and families overcome the many challenges that they continue to experience.