A federal court ruled in favor of a faith-based adoption agency and Chad and Melissa Buck, parents of five foster children with special needs, late Thursday, in a huge win for religious freedom and families. In Buck v. Gordon, St. Vincent's Catholic Charities joined the Bucks in fighting the Michigan attorney general’s attempt to shut down faith-based foster and adoption agencies.

On Thursday, the court said “the State’s real goal is not to promote non-discriminatory child placements, but to stamp out St. Vincent’s religious belief and replace it with the State’s own.” Thankfully, the ruling means St. Vincent’s can continue to operate as litigation continues.

Working with the state to pair children and families in need, St. Vincent’s was one of Michigan’s most successful adoption and foster agencies. However, two years ago, the state attorney general enacted a new policy which threatened the state’s contracts with faith-based foster care and adoption agencies, claiming that the policy was necessary to protect same-sex couples.

This new policy essentially targeted St. Vincent's simply because of their beliefs about same-sex marriage, and a lawsuit ensued. Had the state been successful, St. Vincent’s would have been eventually forced to close, leaving families like the Bucks hanging.

“St. Vincent has been with us every step of our journey: answering every phone call, coming with us to doctor’s appointments, even bringing us food, as we strive to give our five beautiful children the best future they can have,” Melissa Buck said in a statement. “St. Vincent brought our family together, and I’m happy to know they can keep doing their great work helping children find homes.”

St. Vincent’s has been accused of bigotry because of their stance on marriage. However, both the lawsuit and the ruling show this is mere conjecture — the agency had placed children for adoption with same-sex couples. In fact, the judge’s opinion disperses with the bigotry claims entirely, and lays out precisely why this ruling was necessary:

This case is not about whether same-sex couples can be great parents. They can. No one in the case contests that. To the contrary, St. Vincent has placed children for adoption with same-sex couples certified by the State. What this case is about is whether St. Vincent may continue to do this work and still profess and promote the traditional Catholic belief that marriage as ordained by God is for one man and one woman.

Several other states, including Pennsylvania and New York, have targeted faith-based adoption organizations with similar policies, and they too have been embroiled in similar lawsuits. Hopefully those states will come to the same conclusion protecting both same-sex couples and the religious convictions of faith-based adoption agencies.

Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.