House Majority Leader Alice Madden says her Second Parent Adoption Bill will provide children with stable two-parent homes and financial support — bringing Colorado law in line with reality of modern family life.

"More than half of children in the United States are in non-traditional homes, like a single mom or single parent or with a grandparent," Madden, D-Boulder, said today.

"This bill is about acting in the best interest of the child?and promoting parental responsibilities and creating a stable economic environment for children," she added.

House Bill 1330, which will be debated after 1:30 p.m. today before the Health and Human Services Committee, is already drawing fire.

It's been condemned by conservative religious groups, including Focus on the Family, who call it a thinly disguised effort to legalize adoption by gay couples.

"All the high-minded discussion of 'protecting children' and 'parental responsibility' is merely a smokescreen for the true intent of this legislation: paving the way for homosexual adoption," Jim Pfaff, president of Colorado Family Action, was quoted as saying on the Focus on the Family Web site Wednesday. He said the bill ignores the wishes of Colorado voters, who last year overwhelmingly defeated an initiative that would have legalized domestic partnerships and gay adoption.

Under current state law, only single people — either gay or straight — or married couples can adopt, Madden said. That bars cohabitating couples — gay or straight — from adopting. House Bill 1330 would allow a child’s adopted or birth parent to support adoption by a second parent.

Madden said it would also prevent abortion, for example, in the case of a teen-age girl who becomes pregnant, but can’t support her child. The bill would mean that a teen who wants to keep her baby wouldn’t have to renounce her parental rights to allow her parents to adopt the infant. This allows the teen’s parents to provide health insurance for their adopted grandchild.