Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is defending the state's new civil unions law in a dispute over adoptions with Catholic Charities.
State officials say they won't renew foster care and adoption contracts with the group that has received state money for placing children.
Quinn has sent letters to the four remaining Catholic Charities agencies that place children letting them know Illinois won't accept contracts because they won't comply with the civil unions law. The agencies are in the dioceses of Peoria, Joliet, Springfield and Belleville.
Some Catholic groups say the new civil unions law, which gives gay couples many of the same rights as married couples, threatens their religious beliefs.
Quinn says Catholic Charities has "made a choice" and Illinois has a law and isn't going back.
