Republican senators contest proposed rule that would remove kids from foster families who don’t affirm ‘gender identity’

A group of Republican senators is urging the Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services to rescind a proposed rule that would force foster families to affirm the so-called “gender identity” of the children in their care, the Daily Wire reported Thursday.

Kansas Republican Senator Roger Marshall wrote a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra Thursday calling on the agency to reconsider its proposed rule. The letter was also signed by Republican Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Mike Lee of Utah, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi.

In September, HHS’ Administration for Children and Families proposed the “Safe and Appropriate Foster Care Placement Requirements for Titles IV-E and IV-B,” which would essentially require foster families to affirm the “self-identified gender identity” of any child in their care, Blaze News previously reported. Foster families must refer to children by their “chosen names” and “identified pronouns.” Those who do not abide by the rule could have their children “transferred” from their homes.

According to HHS and supporters of the measure, it would protect “LGBTQI+ youth” by providing “safe and appropriate placement.”

State foster care systems would be prohibited from placing “LGBTQI+ identifying children with a provider who unreasonably limits or denies a child’s ability to express their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”

While families may apply for a religious exemption, the foster care system would be required to “assess whether applying the requirement furthers a compelling interest and whether there are less restrictive alternatives available.”

“Thus, even if the rule substantially burdens a religious practice, an exemption would not be required if the burden is necessary to the advancement of a compelling government interest through the least restrictive means possible,” the proposed rule states.

If enacted, all states would be forced to comply with the measure.

In November, the House voted to pass an amendment to a bill that would block the proposed rule from receiving funding, Blaze News previously reported.

Marshall’s Thursday letter to HHS, obtained by the Daily Wire, accused the proposed rule of “narrow[ing] the pool of eligible foster families for children.”

“The premise of this proposal is that any foster care provider who does not ‘affirm’ a child’s sexual orientation or gender that differs from his or her biological sex is perpetuating and committing child abuse and will be shunned for failing to support the foster child’s ‘health and wellbeing,’” Marshall wrote.

He further noted that the measure would “force states to adopt extreme gender ideology.”

“Congress intentionally gave states the authority to make those determinations, but HHS has usurped that authority to impose its own woke ideology in place of states’ judgments,” Marshall added.

The letter also contended that the rule would have a negative impact on the number of foster families available to children by excluding faith-based providers.

“The proposed rule would most certainly exacerbate the dire shortage of foster homes and foster parents across the country,” Marshall’s letter continued. “Furthermore, this rule requires that states provide means for children to be placed in sex-specific facilities consistent with their ‘self-identified gender identity,’ which undermines the safety and security of foster youth and is inappropriate, as children are in different stages of their development.”

Marshall told the Daily Wire, “Foster care providers’ top priority should be matching vulnerable children with a safe and loving home. Unfortunately, under the Biden administration, moral and religious values are under attack by the far left’s endless pursuit to further their LGBTQ+ agenda.”

“We are fighting back against the Biden administration’s woke gender ideology and pronoun politics. Their new proposed rule aims to exclude faith-based foster care providers from helping children in need — not on my watch,” he added.

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