Potential adoption roadblocks could soon be removed as GOP ramps up pressure: ‘Safe, loving homes’

FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers are re-introducing legislation to make sure parents seeking to only raise a child of their biological sex do not face extra roadblocks in the adoption and fostering process.

The “SAFE Home Act” would prevent agencies that receive federal funding from rejecting those parents or placing additional hurdles or oversight on them.

The legislation introduced by Sens. Jim Banks of Indiana and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, as well as House Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, would ensure that adoptive parents would not be obligated to do any “medical, surgical, or psychological treatments” that would try to make changes to a child’s gender identity.

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Sen.-elect Jim Banks at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 12, 2024. (Allison Robbert/AFP via Getty Images)

“Kids deserve safe, loving homes and parents shouldn’t be blocked from adopting or fostering just because they oppose irreversible sex-change procedures on children. This bill makes sure families aren’t punished for using common sense,” Banks told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Sen. Cotton said the legislation helps tackle “radical gender policies.” Part of the bill’s inspiration comes from a Biden-era Department of Health and Human Services rule that makes sure children are put into homes that affirm their sexual orientation or gender identity in 2023. When that rule came out, Banks first introduced the legislation when he was in the House of Representatives, but it did not move forward.

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President Donald Trump acknowledges former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines before signing the No Men in Women’s Sports executive order in the East Room of the White House on Feb. 5, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump has taken multiple executive actions related to transgender policies, including seeking to limit “medical interventions” for people under 19 years old and ensuring federally funded institutions only allow biological women in women’s sports programs. The actions have faced legal opposition, including a transgender military ban that the Supreme Court ruled could go for now on as lawsuits are ongoing.

“We must defend the rights of parents to raise their children in a way that reflects reality and safeguards their future. The SAFE Home Act ensures that parents are not excluded from adopting simply for having common sense and standing against dangerous gender ideologies that threaten the well-being of children,” Miller stated.

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Rep. Mary Miller speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on June 15, 2021. (Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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As of fiscal year 2022, there were over 368,000 children in the foster care system, and nearly 109,000 children were “waiting to be adopted” nationwide, according to the most recent Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System report from 2023.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.