LONDON, Jan. 30 (UPI) |

Adoption agencies run by the Roman Catholic Church in Britain must be willing to consider gay couples as prospective parents starting in 2009, a report said. Prime Minister Tony Blair announced Monday that his government had decided against an opt-out provision for those who object to the non-discrimination policy on religious grounds, The Telegraph reported. Blair said that through 2008 agencies that refuse gay prospective parents must refer them to other agencies. Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, a Catholic, and Blair, an Anglican with close ties to the Catholic Church, had been trying to win an opt-out. But the Labor Party was united against them. Even David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party, suggested that an opt-out would be wrong. He suggested some compromise like letting Catholic agencies work with agencies who do not object to gay adoption. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in Britain, said last year that the church’s adoption agencies would have to close if they are forced to place children with gay couples.

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