A Christian mother has prevailed in her nearly four-year fight for the right to adopt children from Oregon’s foster care system — without supporting the state’s gender-affirming requirements.
Under an order issued this month by the U.S. District Court of Oregon, child-welfare officials must “reinstate [Jessica] Bates’ application or allow her to reapply for certification as a prospective adoptive parent.”
The order states further that the Oregon Department of Human Services “is prohibited from … denying [Bates’] application because of her religious beliefs that sexual activity should occur on within the confines of a marriage between one man and one woman, and a person should identify and seek to live consistent with his or her biological sex. This includes Bates’ desire to respectfully speak about, live out, parent and make day-to-day caregiving decisions consistent with these sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Background
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Bates filed a lawsuit in April 2023 challenging an ODHS rule that categorically excluded her from adopting any child — no matter their age or beliefs — because she would not affirm the state’s gender ideology requirements.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Seattle ruled July 24, 2025, that Bates could resume the process of adopting children from foster care that she began in 2022 — without violating her religious beliefs about human sexuality — while her lawsuit against state officials continued.
Read more.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Lee Weeks and originally published by Decision Magazine.
