As a gay couple, Sean O’Donnell and Todd Collar always wanted to adopt kids, but it wasn’t something they initially thought possible. “We have been together for 20 years,” says O’Donnell. “We have wanted kids for as long as we can remember. We didn’t think that this was something we could do.”

However, Pennsylvania has been a leader in adoptions by LGBTQ individuals for the past decade, thanks to a 2002 state Supreme Court decision that gave same-sex couples equal adoption rights as non-same-sex couples. Adoption by same-sex couples didn’t become legal nationwide until June 2015.

But proposed federal legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Butler) is looking to alter the national landscape for LGBTQ adoption, potentially limiting options for LGBTQ people to participate in the process. The Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act of 2017 seeks to “ensure that organizations with religious or moral convictions are allowed to continue to provide services for children,” and continue to receive federal funds even if those organizations refuse to work with people who run counter to their “moral convictions.” Read more via Pittsburgh City Paper