Texas Sues HHS to Invalidate Foster Care Anti-Bias Rule

Texas is asking the Southern District of Texas to invalidate a federal nondiscrimination rule that allegedly interferes with its ability to contract for foster-care placement services with organizations holding sincere religious beliefs that prevent them from placing children with people who don’t share those beliefs.

The Health and Human Services Department, under President Barack Obama, imposed a rule on recipients of federal money to fund foster care programs that prohibits them from discriminating on the basis of age, disability, sex, race, color, national origin, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or same-sex marital status, the state said.

Several states are fighting ...