WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration is proposing a rule that would allow faith-based foster care and adoption agencies to continue getting taxpayer funding even if they exclude LGBT families and others from their services based on religious beliefs.

The White House says the rule is needed to remove barriers that prevent some nonprofits from helping vulnerable people in their communities.

The Family Research Council, a conservative advocacy group, applauded the move. It says charities would no longer have to choose between “abandoning their faith or abandoning homeless children.”

But LGBT groups say the administration’s plan would reduce the pool of qualified parents wanting to adopt or foster a child. They say that nearly 123,000 foster children are awaiting adoption, but the rule would make even fewer families available to them.