Representatives of Jewish organizations clashed yesterday with Catholic and Protestant spokesmen over a “religious matching” clause in a bill to set up stricter safeguards for adoptions handled privately between families.
The bill would provide for earlier and stricter court investigation and supervision of non-agency adoptions. Its general purposes were endorsed by spokesmen for all the religious, welfare and bar groups who attended a public hearing on the measure.
The disputed clause would provide that “when practicable, children be placed with foster parents of their own religious faiths.” The Catholic and Protestant representatives supported such “religious matching” provisions with the argument that it was in conformity with present public policy outlined in the New York state social welfare law and which is now in effect for agency adoptions.
The Jewish representatives argued that such a provision would deprive adoptive parents of the right to determine what religion their adopted children should be raised in and that it would be a violation of freedom of religion. They also argued that such a requirement could nullify the wishes of the natural parents.
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