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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in his Lansing office.

(AP File Photo | Carlos Osorio)

LANSING, MI -- Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Thursday quickly signed controversial legislation allowing adoption agencies that contract with the state to decline service to prospective parents on religious grounds.

The three-bill package, widely opposed by LGBT advocates, had reached his desk less than 24 hours earlier after approval Wednesday in the Republican-led Legislature.

The new laws, signed just weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on Michigan's gay marriage ban, seek to codify existing Department of Human Services policy and will take effect in 90 days.

"The state has made significant progress in finding more forever homes for Michigan kids in recent years and that wouldn't be possible without the public-private partnerships that facilitate the adoption process," Snyder said in a statement.

"We are focused on ensuring that as many children are adopted to as many loving families as possible regardless of their makeup."

The new law seeks to prohibit "adverse action" against a private agency that contracts with the state to provide adoption services, including any attempt to strip state funding.

If an agency rejects a prospective parent on religious grounds, they would have to refer them to another agency and provide them with a written list of options.

Snyder's office, in announcing the signing, provided MLive with letters to the governor from the Michigan Catholic Conference and Bethany Christian Services, saying the agencies combine to provide roughly 25 to 30 percent of all foster care adoptions in the state.

Bethany, in its letter to Snyder, warned that future policies may force faith-based agencies to "choose between their desire to help children and families and their fidelity to their religious principles."

Religiously affiliated agencies in some other states, including Illinois, have reportedly closed their doors rather than comply with new regulations there requiring them to work with same-sex couples.

Critics, comparing the proposal to the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act that prompted national criticism earlier this year, had urged Snyder to veto the legislation, arguing that it would amount to state-sanctioned discrimination against gays and lesbians wishing to adopt.

"Children deserve loving homes and our elected officials should be held accountable for supporting this blatant act of discrimination," Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, said in a statement.

"We hope that Gov. Snyder is prepared for the same amount of backlash that was seen in Indiana when they passed similar RFRA-style legislation and we encourage the people to raise up their voices in protest."

There are 62 adoption agencies that partner with the state to find homes for foster kids, and only 17 have a religious affiliation, according to the Michigan Catholic Conference. Several of those agencies operate in multiple locations, however.

MCC President and CEO Paul A. Long, in a statement celebrating the governor's signatures, said the new laws "will not only promote a diverse range of child placement providers, they will ensure the state does not discriminate against social service agencies that serve the poor and vulnerable while providing foster care and adoption services to the general public."

Several child advocacy groups, including the American Academy of Pediatricians and the American Counseling Association, joined the Human Rights Campaign in speaking out against the bills earlier this year, saying they were not in the best interest of the 13,000 or so kids in Michigan's foster care system.

House Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, said he was "bitterly disappointed" by Snyder's decision to sign the bills into law.

"I can't understand his action today as anything other than a betrayal of Michigan's diverse population," Greimel said. "Adoption agencies receive taxpayer dollars, and they shouldn't be allowed to discriminate against taxpayers who pay them."

Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group. Email him, find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.