St. Vincent accused the state of conditioning its license on the organization’s willingness to make statements that contradict its religious beliefs.

In granting the motion for a preliminary injunction, Jonker criticized Nessel for putting St. Vincent in a position to have to either give up its religious beliefs or stop contracting with the state.

Jonker added that Nessel has “made it clear that she considered beliefs like St. Vincent’s to be the product of hate.”

“That kind of targeted attack on a sincerely held religious belief is what calls for strict scrutiny in this case and supports entry of a preliminary injunction preserving the status quo while the case is fully litigated,” Jonker, an appointee of President George W. Bush, wrote in his ruling.

He added that the state pays St. Vincent to “place children with foster or adoptive parents certified as suitable by the state.”

“St. Vincent has done that faithfully, regardless of whether the certified parents were opposite sex, same-sex, or unmarried couples,” Jonker contended. “St. Vincent would like to continue doing so under existing and renewed contracts with the state.”

Jonker also refused a request to dismiss Nessel as a defendant in the case on grounds that she is not responsible for Michigan’s change in policy.

Jonker’s decision was praised by St. Vincent’s legal team at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a legal nonprofit that defends religious freedom rights in court.

Earlier this year, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services stated that it needed as many foster homes as possible with over 13,000 foster children in the system.

According to a Becket press release, St. Vincent Catholic Charities is one of the state’s most successful adoption agencies and has recruited more new adoptive families than almost 90 percent of other agencies in the area in 2017.

“St. Vincent has been with us every step of our journey: answering every phone call, coming with us to doctor’s appointments, even bringing us food, as we strive to give our five beautiful children the best future they can have,” adoptive mother Melissa Buck said in a statement. “St. Vincent brought our family together, and I’m happy to know they can keep doing their great work helping children find homes.”

(Excerpt from The Christian Post. Article by Samuel Smith.)