News & Commentary

We have been blessed with two beautiful children through foster care and adoption. But SB 149 could make it difficult – or even impossible – to build strong, loving families like ours.

Today the South Dakota State Senate advanced SB 149 to the House on a 22-12 vote. This bill would allow taxpayer funded agencies to refuse to provide any service, including adoption or foster care placement, on the basis of the agency’s religious beliefs or moral convictions.

Several bills are being considered this week seeking to limit the rights of LGBT people, restrict and criminalize abortion, and chill First Amendment activity. It’s imperative that everyday citizens do the job of showing up, speaking up, and holding representatives accountable for upholding our values.

This morning the Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed SB 149 on a 5-2 vote. This bill would allow taxpayer-supported agencies to refuse to provide any service, including adoption or foster care placement, on the basis of the agency's religious beliefs or moral convictions.

ACLU of South Dakota policy director Libby Skarin's testimony in opposition to HB 1145, a bill that would have allowed the government to target speech arising out of "community organizing efforts".

This year our legislators have introduced a bill that would allow state-funded adoption and foster care placement agencies to discriminate against families based on the agency’s moral convictions or religious beliefs. This could prevent LGBT couples, interfaith couples, divorced people, and many otherwise qualified, loving people from adopting children.

[UPDATE: The sponsors of SB 115 have withdrawn the bill. It's gone!] I worked hard to fight anti-transgender legislation last year, and I'm asking you to stand with me again for transgender teens. Because transgender youth deserve to go to school on equal terms with their peers and go about their days in peace.

South Dakota legislators introduced SB 115, a bill that targets transgender students in public schools, forcing them into isolated spaced and preventing them from participating in school activities on equal terms with their peers.

South Dakota is fighting to rise from the dubious title of last in the nation for education – so why are our politicians spending so much of their time trying to undermine science education around the state?