SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR MUM ON RELIGIOUS ADOPTION PROTECTIONS

Source: Associated Press

Mar 8, 3:36 PM EST
BY HANNAH WEIKEL
ASSOCIATED PRESS


South Dakota's Republican governor isn't saying whether he'll sign a measure aimed at protecting faith-based organizations that refuse to place children with gay couples or other arrangements contrary to their religious beliefs.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard, who hasn't signaled what action he will take on the bill, frustrated the more conservative elements of his party last year by vetoing a bill that would have required students to use bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding with their birth gender. Daugaard, who isn't seeking re-election, has also pledged to veto a pair of measures this year expanding gun rights.

"I know it was relatively controversial," Daugaard said last week about the adoptions bill. He said he'd "listen to both sides" and weigh in, but as of Wednesday - the day after the GOP-controlled Legislature passed it - Daugaard's office hadn't signaled whether he had made up his mind.

If Daugaard signs the bill, South Dakota would join Michigan, North Dakota and Virginia to pass so-called religious exemption bills concerning adoption and foster care, and the first since the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage.


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