HAMILTON, Ohio — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund have offered to defend a Butler County adoption policy if it is reinstated by the county’s board of commissioners. In a letter to the board Thursday, ADF attorneys explained that the policy, which lists in order the types of adoptive parents the county will consider when placing children for adoption, is completely constitutional, contrary to the opinion of the American Civil Liberties Union.
“Adoption policies should place a child’s interests ahead of the desires of adoptive parents. Butler County’s policy explicitly does this, and we would certainly be willing to defend it free of charge if it is ever challenged in court. It’s not unconstitutional for the board to be concerned about a child’s best interests. In fact, it’s their duty,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione.
The policy gives preference to the placement of an adoptive child first with relatives of the child, second with person(s) designated by the birth mother, third with a married mother and father, and fourth with foster parents and other suitable adoptive parents. In a media interview, the ACLU criticized the policy as discriminatory.
“It is hardly disputable that placing children in homes with a married couple serves the best interests of children because the child receives the advantages of having both a legal mother and a legal father,” the ADF letter states. “To the extent the adoption matching policy works to place a child with two legal parents rather than one, it surely serves the best interest of adoptive children. Since the Butler County adoption matching policy does not infringe upon anyone’s rights, but rather advances the rights of children, the policy is consistent with both state and federal law.”
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family. ADF President Alan Sears is co-author with Craig Osten of the book The ACLU vs. America (www.acluvsamerica.com).
www.telladf.org