The state of Oregon is now forcing individuals who wish to adopt to support “gender-affirming” care for minors. Jessica Bates, a Christian single mother, told the Daily Caller that she was denied the right to adopt a child because of her stance on medically transitioning children.
Bates, who has five kids, was looking to adopt a “sibling pair” in 2022 — six years after the passing of her husband, who tragically died in a car accident,
Bates spent a considerable amount of time going through Oregon’s adoption application process but was later told by state officials that she would need to support any adopted child’s wish to undergo a “gender transition.” As a Christian, though, Bates was unwilling to support such a measure. She told the Daily Caller that the mandate was “denying reality” and her faith.
Shortly thereafter, the God-loving mother filed a lawsuit with Alliance Defending Freedom against Oregon after the state reportedly denied her request to adopt a child.
TODAY we'll be in court representing Jessica Bates. She wants to adopt a sibling pair from foster care. But Oregon disqualified her because she won't facilitate a (hypothetical) child's gender transition.
Oregon's policy is unconstitutional & hurts kids. Please pray for justice. pic.twitter.com/FCxYulSoKI
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) August 16, 2023
“I think everybody was just really shocked at first that, you know, gender ideology would be the reason why we wouldn’t be able to adopt,” Bates told the Daily Caller.
During the adoption process, Bates said officials discussed “hypothetical situations” wherein an adopted child seeks to identify as a “different gender” or undergo hormone therapy and surgeries. Bates told the state she would love the child with all her heart but could not support such choices. By September 2022, she was told that her request for adoption was ultimately denied.
Truthfully, Bates told the Daily Caller that she believes “God gives us our gender,” and that anything contrary is “basically just an untruth.” She claimed that loving a child who is mentally confused about their gender is not about “trying to affirm them in something they think will make them happy,” adding that experiments such as puberty blockers are “so radical.”
“These kids are so young and the gender surgeries and stuff are so radical and [then they] have to be on hormones for the rest of their lives,” Bates told the Daily Caller. “Girls lose their voice. It’ll go deep and you don’t get that back, not to mention reproductive abilities, and everything else. I think it does more harm in the long run.”
