By Gloria Gomez/UA Don Bolles Fellow/AZ Mirror PHOENIX — Faith-based adoption and foster care agencies in the state who make decisions based on their religious views are now free to do so without any threat of lawsuits thanks to a new law signed this week, and opponents say that could hurt foster kids across the…
By Gloria Gomez/UA Don Bolles Fellow/AZ Mirror PHOENIX — Foster kids in Arizona overwhelmingly outnumber licensed foster families, and a bill on Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk could shrink their options even further by allowing agencies to deny applicants based on religious beliefs. The bill would shield foster and adoption providers from discrimination on the basis…
By Gloria Gomez/UA Don Bolles Fellow/AZ Mirror PHOENIX — In a move against transgender youth in Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey signed new laws barring them from participating in girls’ and womens’ sports, and from obtaining gender reassignment surgery. Senate Bill 1138 prohibits doctors from providing genital reassignment surgery to minors, including mastectomies or mammoplasties to feminize…
By Gloria Gomez/UA Don Bolles Fellow/AZ Mirror PHOENIX — Republican legislators want voters to make it unconstitutional for Arizona public schools, colleges and universities to teach so-called “critical race theory,” a move that will come at the detriment of quality education, critics say. The proposed constitutional amendment would capitalize on a nationwide GOP movement to…
By Gloria Gomez/UA Don Bolles Fellow/AZ Mirror An eleventh-hour proposal that would make sweeping changes to how Arizona schools are funded won Republican approval on a legislative panel Monday, despite the devastating budget cuts that critics say many schools will face if it becomes law. The amendment attached to Senate Bill 1269 increases total K-12 funding by…
