Catholic Charities: We're Quitting the Adoption Biz in Colorado Because of Civil Unions

Catholic Charities in Colorado is upset that the Colorado legislature passed a civil unions bill and is once again threatening to pull out of the adoption and foster care business in that state -- presumably in a last minute effort to sway that state's governor towards vetoing this bill. That's my guess, anyway:

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver expressed Tuesday “disappointment” in Colorado’s Legislature, stating that if signed into law, the bill “may threaten the policies which guide us in the vital work to find families for Colorado’s children in need...”  

The Rev. Samuel J. Aqulia, archbishop of Denver, released a statement Tuesday... that while the Catholic Church “recognizes and affirms the dignity of every human person,” it does not view all relationships as equal. “The ability for religious-based institutions to provide foster care and adoption services for Colorado’s children is now dangerously imperiled,” Aquila said. “Marriage is a stabilizing institution at the foundation of civil society. Religious liberty is a civil rights issue. Both have been grievously harmed.”

Catholic Charities spokeswoman Tracy Murphy said the organization would not announce any concrete decision regarding adoption services in Colorado until the civil unions bill was signed into law, but the organization previously threatened to withdraw adoption services in Colorado if the legislation did not include exemptions that would allow religious organizations to withhold adoptions from gay couples.

That's not entirely honest of Catholic Charities. Just one year ago, the agency threatened to shut down its adoption and foster care services in Colorado if an earlier version of the civil union bill passed through the legislature -- despite the fact that religious-based agencies like Catholic Charities were specifically exempt from honoring civilly unionized couples or  from providing services to them. It was partly due to that earlier obstinance that the current Colorado legislature chopped the religious exemptions from the current version of this civil union bill. I mean, what was the point. They were going to close either way, right?

Meanwhile, there will continue to be other adoption agencies in Colorado, even if Catholic Charities closes -- including other religious-based agencies such as Lutheran Family Services.

It is even possible that Catholic Charities in Colorado will do what Catholic Charities in Illinois did: formally detach itself from the Catholic Dioceses and rebrand itself as a brand-new agency at the same location with the same staff, but with a slightly different name.