Calling it the most important issue I have ever worked on in 30 years of advocacy, John Stemberger, the president of Florida Family Action, rallied social and religious conservatives against a proposal to allow same-sex couples to adopt children in Florida. The Senate is expected to vote on the issue later on Wednesday.

In over three decades of working in and around Tallahassee, this could be the single most critical issue I have worked on and it is all going down today in the Florida Legislature, Stemberger emailed supporters on Wednesday. Many of you may have heard about the bad adoption bill that Florida House of Representatives passed out which strikes the statutory language of Floridas long standing prohibition on homosexual adoptions. This leaves faith-based adoption agencies completely vulnerable to being attacked by the 23 local so-called non-discrimination ordinances being used around the country to punish Christians who believe in Gods design for marriage and family structures.

When same sex marriages were closed in Massachusetts, Catholic Charities was forced to shut down because the government was forcing them to place children for adoption with homosexual men, and the same thing is about to happen in Florida if this House bill passes without strong conscience protection, Stemberger added. If the House bill passes in its raw form, my best estimate is that at between 40-65 percent of the faith based adoption agencies in Florida will shut down due to the overwhelming legal challenges they will encounter when they honor their faith and show a preference for placing children in homes with both mothers and fathers. Ultimately, they will have no choice but to stop doing adoption placements.

The original underlying adoption bill was initially a good bill because it gave economic incentives to adopt special needs children, but the bill was amended so that the way it is worded will eventually do much more to hurt children by forcing faith based adoption agencies to close, Stemberger continued.

Urging conservatives to contact senators, Stemberger asked for their prayers as well.

We need God to move upon the hearts and minds of those in leadership, (many of who are usually our good friends and allies) who have been completely deceived and mislead, regarding both the legal facts and the reality of the hostile nature of our opponents, the judiciary, and how this bill will eventually cause real harm to thousands of Floridas children, Stemberger wrote.

We need to do everything within our power to persuade legislators in Tallahassee to do what is right, Stemberger concluded.