Oregon settles adoption lawsuit with woman denied over religious beliefs
State agrees to reconsider Jessica Bates' application and pay her legal fees.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Oregon settles adoption lawsuit with woman denied over religious beliefs
Photograph: The Register-Guard (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Oregon will reconsider Jessica Bates' adoption application after settling a lawsuit.
- The state agency cannot reject Bates based on her religious beliefs about same-sex marriage and gender identity.
- The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously sided with Bates, ordering a preliminary injunction.
- Oregon has agreed to pay Bates' attorneys' fees as the prevailing party in the case.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
45/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 1 of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Oregon has settled a lawsuit with Jessica Bates, a woman who was denied adoption due to her religious beliefs concerning same-sex marriage and gender identity. The settlement requires the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) to reconsider Bates' adoption application and prohibits the agency from rejecting her based on these beliefs. The state has also agreed to pay Bates' attorneys' fees.
Bates, a widowed mother of five, sued ODHS in 2023 after her application to adopt foster care siblings was denied. Her lawsuit, filed with representation from the Alliance Defending Freedom, argued that ODHS policies requiring prospective parents to support the sexual orientation and gender identity of a child conflicted with her religious convictions. The Alliance Defending Freedom stated that Bates' beliefs included that parents should help children become comfortable with who they are, rather than promoting views that girls can become boys and vice versa.
In July 2025, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Bates, ordering a preliminary injunction. Following this ruling, Oregon agreed to allow Bates to restart her application process earlier this year. ODHS spokesperson Jake Sunderland stated that the agency has updated its rules to comply with the judgment and will continue to prioritize child-specific safety needs, including placing LGBTQIA2S+ children with parents able and willing to support them.
Disagreement on agency's future policy
The Register-Guard reported that ODHS maintains it will continue to place children based on their specific needs, including placing LGBTQIA2S+ youth in affirming homes. Sunderland added that the judgment does not prevent ODHS from deciding a child’s placement based on their specific needs and a foster or adoptive parent’s ability or willingness to meet them, including the child’s sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Just the News reported that the state preserved some flexibility on specific placement decisions, stating it can consider applicants' concerns or limitations, including those religiously motivated, on their ability or willingness to meet a child’s specific needs regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports mention the specific date the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a preliminary injunction, which was July 2025. The left-rated report stated this date. No centre-rated outlet ran this story.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 14 Sept 2026, 23:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
1 rated outlet
- The Register-Guard, the sole left-rated report, led with the settlement and the state's agreement to reconsider Jessica Bates' adoption application. It highlighted that the agency is prohibited from rejecting her based on her religious beliefs. The report included statements from ODHS spokesperson Jake Sunderland emphasizing the agency's commitment to supporting the LGBTQIA2S+ community and prioritizing child-specific safety needs, including placing LGBTQIA2S+ children with affirming parents. The outlet also quoted Bates expressing gratitude for the Alliance Defending Freedom's advocacy for her rights.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Right
5 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports from Just the News, Tennessee Star, World, and LifeNews.com, along with the [your]NEWS digest, focused on Oregon stopping its blocking of the Christian widow's adoption bid after a court loss. Just the News and Tennessee Star detailed the stipulated order and judgment, noting it bans the state from rejecting Bates' application based on her religious beliefs regarding traditional marriage and biological sex, and prohibits a transgender language mandate. World's headline stated Oregon will let the woman adopt amid a battle over gender ideology. LifeNews.com reported that the Christian mom defeated Oregon's bid to stop her from adopting, framing it as a win against a 'liberal state'.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Oregon settles adoption lawsuit with woman denied over religious beliefs?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 17% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 83% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Oregon settles adoption lawsuit with woman denied over religious beliefs left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Oregon settles adoption lawsuit with woman denied over religious beliefs biased?
- Oregon settles adoption lawsuit with woman denied over religious beliefs is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Oregon settles adoption lawsuit with woman denied over religious beliefs?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Oregon settles adoption lawsuit with woman denied over religious beliefs?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Why was Jessica Bates denied adoption?
- Jessica Bates was denied adoption by the Oregon Department of Human Services because her religious beliefs conflicted with the agency's policies requiring prospective parents to support a child's sexual orientation and gender identity. The state has now agreed to reconsider her application.
- What does the settlement require Oregon to do?
- Oregon must reconsider Jessica Bates' adoption application and is prohibited from rejecting her based on her religious beliefs regarding same-sex marriage and gender identity. The state has also agreed to pay Bates' attorneys' fees as the prevailing party.
- Did a court rule on this case before the settlement?
- Yes, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Jessica Bates in July 2025, ordering a preliminary injunction. This ruling allowed Bates to restart her adoption application process earlier this year.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
5- Oregon Agrees Not to Deny Christian Widow’s Adoption Bid Over Gender Beliefs (opens [your]NEWS in a new tab)
[your]NEWS — is [your]NEWS biased? Our profile of this outlet
- After Court Loss, Oregon Stops Blocking Christian Widow from Adopting over Gender Identity Views (opens Tennessee Star in a new tab)
Tennessee Star — is Tennessee Star biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Oregon to let woman adopt amid battle over gender ideology (opens World in a new tab)
- Christian Mom Defeats Oregon Bid to Stop Her From Adopting (opens LifeNews.com in a new tab)
LifeNews.com — is LifeNews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- After court loss, Oregon stops blocking Christian widow from adopting over gender identity views (opens Just the News in a new tab)
Just the News — is Just the News biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
