Scott Signs Controversial Adoption Bill

June 12, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday signed 48 bills Thusrday, including an controversial adoption bill..

The bill (HB 7013) will provide $5,000 payments to government workers who adopt foster children, with the payments increasing to $10,000 for adopting children with special needs. But the bill also sparked fierce protests over what one critic called its “poison pill” — a provision repealing the state’s decades-old ban on gay adoption.

An outcry by social conservatives about repealing the ban led the House this spring to approve another measure — dubbed the “conscience protection” bill — that would have protected faith-based adoption agencies from lawsuits or loss of licensure for refusing to place children with gays. But the “conscience protection” bill did not pass the Senate.

Scott sought to bridge the divide in a letter Thursday that accompanied his signing of HB 7013. He noted that the gay adoption ban hasn’t been enforced since 2010, when the 3rd District Court of Appeal struck it down. However, he wrote, “It is my hope and expectation that the Legislature will take future action to make clear that we will support private, faith-based operators in the child welfare system and ensure that their religious convictions continue to be protected.”

Sen. Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican who was the Senate sponsor of HB 7013, indicated he was elated — and grateful — that Scott signed the measure.

“I know that there was political pressure to veto the bill,” Gaetz said. “I know there were people who were passionate, and I’m sure very well intentioned, who believe that one line in this bill was enough to encourage the governor to veto what was otherwise truly an expression of hope and support by the state of Florida for hundreds and hundreds of hard-to-place kids.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Dennis Baxley, an Ocala Republican who supported the “conscience protection” bill and is one of the most-prominent social conservatives in the Legislature, pointed to the difficult decision that faced Scott.

“The governor certainly articulates the conundrum we find ourselves in,” Baxley said. “I don’t hate anybody. I’m not phobic or afraid of anybody. I simply can’t morally run over my Biblical beliefs about homosexuality. And I still believe that every child deserves a mom and a dad.”

John Stemberger, president of the conservative Florida Family Policy Council, had a harsher assessment of the bill. Stemberger tweeted that the governor had signed a “bad homosexual adoption bill putting faith-based agencies at risk.”

But Rep. David Richardson, a Miami Beach Democrat who played a key role in getting the gay-adoption ban repealed, said in a prepared statement he was “glad the governor did the right thing.”

“This is a momentous day and an important advance for civil rights,” said Richardson, who is gay. “It’s also great news for children who will be adopted into loving homes.”

Scott signed the adoption bill just hours after formally receiving it.

by Margie Menzel and Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida

Comments

5 Responses to “Scott Signs Controversial Adoption Bill”

  1. alice on June 15th, 2015 9:44 am

    what about our freedom to bear children w/o knowing who the dad is… w/o any parental skills…. and w/o means to support them except thur adoption services and welfare.

  2. SPAYME on June 15th, 2015 9:31 am

    @emd

    I agree but how can you pass laws to make people more responsible when bringing another human being on the planet to feed and shelter……IMPOSSIBLE.

  3. Concerned Citizen on June 12th, 2015 11:11 pm

    I believe I remember our country being founded by people who were very much involved in religion. Those who signed the Declaration of Independence were believers, some of them preachers or priests. The word “Inalienable” in the inalienable rights mentioned are a sure sign that belief in God was shared among these fine gentlemen. Religious beliefs are the cradle of our country.

  4. pje on June 12th, 2015 11:49 am

    I fail to see how this will “morally bankrupt America.” Allowing children to be adopted by loving parents is a good thing.

    Where was the outcry about adopted children being abused by God-fearing, heterosexual, “traditional” parents?

    Stop injecting religious beliefs into our government. They have no place there.

  5. EMD on June 12th, 2015 8:24 am

    The GOVERNMENT is buying their way into morally bankrupting America. Why can’t people SEE this???!!! Candy in one hand with poison laced in it. And a whip in the other. GAG!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News