Romney bill seeks adoption exemption

Governor Mitt Romney filed legislation yesterday that would allow religious groups to refuse to provide adoption services if doing so violates the tenets of their faith, including a belief that children should not be placed with gay couples.

Citing a decision by Catholic Charities of Boston to end its adoption services rather than comply with state laws requiring that gays and lesbians be considered as prospective parents, Romney filed a ''Protecting Religious Freedom" bill that would exempt religious groups from laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.

''It is a matter beyond dispute, and a prerequisite to the preservation of liberty, that government not dictate to religious institutions the moral principles by which they are to carry out their charitable and divine mission," Romney wrote lawmakers in a letter accompanying the bill.

Specifically, the legislation says it will be legal for ''any religious or denominational institution or organization" to ''take any action" to provide adoption services that promote its religious principles as long as the groups do not ''discriminate among prospective adoptive parents on the basis of race, creed, national origin, gender, [or] handicap." The list does not include sexual orientation.

The bill appears unlikely to gain traction in the Legislature. Senate President Robert E. Travaglini said Tuesday that he would oppose such a measure, and an aide to House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi said in a statement Friday that he could not support a bill that ''condones discrimination."

The legislation drew fire from gay rights activists, some of whom have accused Romney of filing it partly to curry favor with conservative Christians as he lays the groundwork for a potential presidential run in 2008. If gay couples are excluded from some adoptions, they said, it could cause children to languish in foster care.

''It's reprehensible that Romney is putting ideology and his political aspirations ahead of the best interests of these children," said Arline Isaacson, cochairwoman of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. ''Every child deserves a loving and nurturing home, and if a gay family can provide that, the child should not be denied it because of the governor's prejudices."

Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com