Colorado Catholic Conference steps up call for veto of gay adoption bill

Roman Catholic leaders in Colorado Tuesday spoke out against a bill that would allow gay couples to adopt children together.

Current state law allows gay individuals to adopt, and married couples can adopt each other's children as stepparents. House Bill 1330 would simulate the stepparent adoption process for unmarried couples, including same-sex partners.

Gov. Bill Ritter, who is Catholic, has said he is inclined to sign the bill, said his spokesman Evan Dreyer.

The Colorado Catholic Conference said Tuesday that the measure would circumvent the will of voters who rejected a referendum in November to allow couples who register as domestic partners to adopt children together.

The conference is a public policy agency operated jointly by the Archdiocese of Denver, and the dioceses of Pueblo and Colorado Springs. It previously had announced their opposition to the measure.

"This legislation, if it becomes law, will have a negative impact on the state of the adoption process in Colorado for years to come," the agency said in a statement.

Jim Pfaff, president of the Colorado Family Institute, has said the best environment for children to be raised in is with married couples. The institute is part of a network of councils associated with Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family, James Dobson's Christian ministry.