Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Rep. Danny Davis of Illinois introduced the Every Child Deserves a Family Act in both the House and the Senate in November, 2025. Since then, 160 representatives from 36 states and three territories have signed the House bill and 29 Senators have signed the Senate version of the bill.
The companion bills, which are identical, are intended to prevent discrimination against would-be adoptive or foster parents on the basis of religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. It is already illegal to discriminate on the basis of race against families that wish to adopt. However, states make their own adoption laws, and not all states have legislated against discrimination of other kinds.
The Every Child Deserves a Family Act also prohibits discrimination against kids on the same grounds.
What supporters say
The Human Rights Campaign says, “By denying LGBTQ+ families the ability to foster and adopt children, these agencies are denying children the right to safe, happy, and healthy permanent homes.” This is the central argument in favor of the bill: that discrimination on the basis of religion, sex, or marital status reduces the number of adoptive homes. With thousands of kids waiting for adoptive families in foster care, more adoptive families are needed.
Children’s Rights says, “When passed, the ECDF Act will also improve services to LGBTQ and religious minority children.”
The American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the North American Council on Adoptable Children, the National Adoption Center, the Child Welfare League of America, and the American Bar Association all support the eligibility of gay couples and of single people as adoptive or foster parents.
Arkansas law
Arkansas does not prevent gay couples of single people from adopting children. Birth moms can request an adoptive family that shares her religious background, but the law does not require that kind of placement. “If a family with the same or a similar religious background is not available, to a family of a different religious background that is knowledgeable and appreciative of the child’s religious background,” the law explains.
Arkansas also allows faith-based adoption agencies to decline to serve would-be adoptive parents if placing a child with them would conflict with the organization’s religious position. This law also is intended to prevent discrimination. The law, Act 677, says that it intends to “Prohibit the government from discriminating against certain individuals and organizations because of their beliefs regarding marriage or what it means to be female or male.”
Act 677 is understood to provide religious exemptions to laws forbidding discrimination against gay people. It might conflict with the ECDF Act; court decisions might be required to determine whether Act 677 would allow exemptions from the ECDF Act if it becomes law.