House Scraps Shielding Agencies that Bar Gay Adoptions

The Texas House has scrapped - at least for the time being - a measure that would have allowed some child welfare agencies to block gays and same-sex couples from adopting children through them.

The proposal would have protected entities that object to such adoptions on religious grounds from being sued and was championed by leading social conservatives. It was a planned amendment to a bill reorganizing the Department of Family and Protective Services, but was abruptly pulled down late Tuesday night.

Midnight was the deadline for the House to pass Senate bills ahead of the June 1 end of the legislative session, and the health agency overhaul originated in the upper chamber. House Democrats, therefore, had a chance to run out the clock on legislation they particularly detested, and they took to the floor to draw out debate on bills being considered ahead of it.

Fearing that there wasn't enough time to tackle it and other top priorities, including a bill to allow licensed Texans to carry concealed handguns onto college campuses, Republicans tried to reorganize Tuesday's House calendar. But because that required two-thirds support of the chamber, it narrowly failed along party lines, 96-53.

The health agency reorganization came up less than three hours before Tuesday's deadline, and the amendment on gay adoptions was among those removed to speed up the vote and clear the way for the so-called campus carry bill.