Catholic Charities Goes Over the Top

In case you haven't heard, Catholic Charities in Massachusetts recently announced that it will completely stop providing adoption services rather than comply with a state law that prohibits discrimination against lesbians and gay men in the adoption process. I'm from Boston. Catholic Charities has provided adoption services there for as long as I can remember. It is one of the largest -- if not the largest -- adoption agencies in the state. But rather than provide adoption services to lesbian and gay couples, they will cease providing adoption services at all, leaving other agencies scrambling to meet the needs of children waiting to be adopted. According to my friend and colleague Joyce Kauffman, there are more than 10,000 children currently in foster care in the state of Massachusetts. These children need homes, and there are lesbian and gay couples prepared to open their homes and hearts to them. . The Catholic Church hierarchy says that placing children with lesbian and gay couples is "gravely immoral." One has to question the morality of ceasing to provide adoption services to children awaiting placements, even if that decision is based on deeply held religious convictions.