We’re back! After a month away, Five Minutes for Families returns with encouraging news on the religious liberty front. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (not known for defending Christian values) delivered a major victory for religious freedom in adoption!
In Bates v. Pakserecht, the court ruled that Jessica Bates cannot be excluded from adopting foster children solely because she holds biblical views on gender and human sexuality. This ruling reinforces a fundamental principle that Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) has long maintained: the government cannot strip away constitutional rights because someone holds faith-based beliefs about biological reality.
Jessica, a devoted mother of five with a heart for vulnerable children, applied to adopt a sibling pair from foster care two years ago. However, despite her promise that she “would happily love and accept any child placed with her,” Oregon’s Department of Human Services (DHS) slammed the door shut.
Why? Jessica’s religious convictions prevented her from agreeing to use pronouns contradicting biological reality or take children to pride parades that celebrate values contrary to her faith. Remarkably, DHS deemed her unfit to adopt any child, even infants or children who share her religious beliefs, based solely on her Christian worldview.
The 9th Circuit was having none of it. As the court stated:
“No one thinks, for example, that a state could exclude parents from adopting foster children based on those parents’ political views, race, or religious affiliations… Adoption is not a constitutional law dead zone. And a state’s general conception of the child’s best interest does not create a force field against the valid operation of other constitutional rights.”
This case illustrates how Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) laws and policies often become instruments of discrimination, specifically against people of faith. They force parents like Jessica to make an impossible choice: abandon deeply held religious beliefs or forfeit the opportunity to provide a loving home to children in need of a forever family. Is this about protecting children? Or is it about enforcing ideological compliance at any cost?
Unfortunately, Jessica’s case is not isolated. Across the country, prospective parents with stable homes and loving hearts face rejection because they won’t conform to new gender ideologies. We talk about the shortage of foster and adoptive families, then turn around and disqualify good parents over their religious convictions about biological reality. When a parent’s view on pronouns matters more than their capacity to provide stability and love, we have fundamentally misplaced our priorities.
The Jessica Bates case reminds us why we cannot remain silent. As Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs stated, “Every child deserves a loving home, and children suffer when the government excludes people of faith from the adoption and foster system.” Jessica’s victory does not just protect one mother’s right to adopt; it establishes a precedent that shields all Americans who seek to live according to their held beliefs.
While this ruling represents significant progress, the battle continues in agencies across the country, where government bureaucrats believe they can override constitutional rights based on disagreement with those who hold traditional views on gender and family. The 9th Circuit’s message was clear: “Adoption is not a constitutional law dead zone.” We must ensure this truth prevails in every state and every courthouse.
Building Momentum from SoConCon 25
Also, this past month, CAP was on the ground at SoConCon 25 (Social Conservative Policy Conference), connecting with the nation’s leading policy experts and advocates. To share what we have learned, we launched a special podcast series, “Engage Arizona at SoConCon 25,” featuring in-depth conversations with influential conservative leaders.
We’ve released four powerful episodes:
- Fighting Trafficking & Porn with Helen Taylor of Exodus Cry: Helen shares how pornography fuels sex trafficking and discusses Exodus Cry’s campaigns to protect children and survivors through policy reform and cultural change.
- The Next Fight for Life with SBA Pro-Life America: Sue Liebel explains post-Roe strategies to advance pro-life laws and programs that help women, children, and families—including efforts to defund Planned Parenthood.
- FTC Chair Investigates Deceptive Medical Practices on Children: Chairman Andrew Ferguson discusses the FTC’s investigation into misleading claims about cross-sex hormones and surgeries targeting vulnerable children and their parents.
- Rebuilding Culture with Aaron Baer: This conversation examines why over half of America’s children being raised outside intact families matters, and how churches and Christian education offer paths to cultural renewal.
Our fifth episode releases this afternoon featuring Sarah Parshall Perry from Defending Education, an organization fighting to remove activist agendas from classrooms and restore quality, non-political education for all students.