by Glen Johnson, Boston Globe
BOSTON --Gov. Mitt Romney has asked his staff to draft a "very narrow" bill that would exempt Catholic Charities from the state's nondiscrimination laws so it can continue to provide adoption services without serving gay couples, the governor said Monday.
In so doing, Romney argued that maintaining the services of Catholic Charities, whose parent Roman Catholic Church opposes gay adoption, was more important than maintaining a faith-blind law, which has allowed 13 same-sex couples to adopt children during the past 20 years.
He refused to elaborate when asked where he would draw the line if other faiths or their charitable organizations similarly come into conflict with state law in the future.
"They have within their religion the belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that children should not be sent into homes without a mother and a father, and that's their religious freedom to have that belief and we'd like them to be able to be true to their religion and at the same time provide a service to the commonwealth of placing special needs kids," Romney told reporters after a breakfast speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
He said that while his exemption would allow Catholic Charities to stop serving gay couples, it would not inhibit them from adopting, because "there are many, many other agencies that can meet the needs of those gay couples." He expected to file a "very narrow" bill perhaps this week.
In December, Romney refused to exempt Catholic hospitals from a new state law requiring them to provide emergency contraception, even though the church prohibits premarital sex and abortion. Romney had previously vetoed the law, only to be overridden by the Legislature.
"We would have preferred a different outcome, but we fought that fight and lost. It's the governor's job to 'faithfully execute' the laws, even the ones he disagrees with," Eric Fehrnstrom, the governor's communications director, said in an e-mail Monday.
As for gay adoption, Fehrnstrom said: "When it comes to the separation of church and state, we're very good about keeping the church out of the state, but in this case we're not so good about keeping the state out of the church."
Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who is hoping to succeed Romney as governor, said recently she disagreed with the governor's position.
"I believe that any institution that wants to provide services that are regulated by the state has to abide by the laws of this state, and our anti-discrimination laws are some of the most important," Healey said earlier this month.
House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has also said he would not support a bill such as Romney is suggesting.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is openly gay, said Romney's position is driven by his presidential aspirations. The governor has acknowledged he is considering a White House bid in 2008 and has sought to highlight his connections to social conservatives.
"This is not a competition where the question is, 'Okay, we have this child to be adopted, should we auction the child off to Boy George or does he go to live with the Cleavers and Wally and the Beaver?'" said Frank, who is Jewish. "The fact is, the question is whether the child will be adopted at all."
U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., a Catholic, said that while he has "no problem" with gay adoption, he similarly did not disagree with Catholic Charities' decision to halt adoptions rather than arrange them for gay couples.
"In this case, Catholic Charities made a decision they couldn't live with these rules and they're going to walk away from it. I don't have any problem with that," Capuano said.
Posted on March 14, 2006 |
