ADOPTION OF CHILDREN BY SAME-SEX COUPLES
I was asked today by a radio station in San Francisco
to participate live in one of their talk-show programs
discussing the a recent decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
upholding the dismissal of a suit brought by
the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights
against the City of San Francisco.
I asked the radio station to send me the Resolution
adopted by the City Council and the final opinion of the
Ninth Circuit Count of Appeals so that I could know
whether I was competent to comment on the case.

They sent the documentation to me
I read and reread the documents of the case and then
I declined to appear live on their radio program to discuss
these matters because “they are above my pay grade.”

On the other hand, I am happy to give you my layman’s
impressions on this rather complex legal case.

First, it is true that the San Francisco City Council was dealing with an issue that was
essentially secular in nature, namely the adoption of children in need of adoption,
by same-sex couples. It is also true that the Council showed open hostility
to the Roman Catholic Church in the language it used in its Resolution.

Second, it is obvious that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is not known
for its love of religion in general and the Roman Catholic Church in particular,
by holding that the City Council did not intend to disparage and injure religion in general and the Roman Catholic Faith in particular, found it easy to affirm the decision of the
lower Court dismissing the case of The Catholic League which had brought the case against the City of San Francisco.

I doubt that anything was accomplished by this whole judicial farce
since the action of Cardinal Levada,
Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
in issuing his directive to the Archdiocese
of San Francisco forbidding it from placing children for adoption by same-sex couples was not acting in any way as a official of a foreign government,
as alleged by the City Council’s Resolution,
but was instead giving an internal directive to a part of the Church.
It is highly unlikely that the Archdiocese will handle adoptions for
same-sex couples any more than it is likely to provide abortion services
to heterosexual couples.

What is at issue here is the FIRST AMENDMENT freedom of religion under which the
Roman Catholic Church, or any church, is free to live by its own
moral principles and teachings.

It is not surprising that this case should have arisen
since it is increasingly apparent that
the United States Constitution is irrelevant in our society.