Family Forum / Parenting / Spanking / March 2007

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4654720.html

Patrick's adoption incentive is baby selling, some say

By JANET ELLIOTT
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
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AUSTIN — Houston state Sen. Dan Patrick wants the state to pay $500 to
women who give their babies up for adoption instead of aborting them, an
idea some say borders on baby selling.

"We want that lady to have an incentive that makes her stop and think
about having an abortion and that gives her a reason to put her baby up
for adoption," said Patrick, a radio broadcaster who champions
conservative causes such as abortion and tightening the border.

The Republican lawmaker's Senate Bill 1567 was referred to the Senate
Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday. No committee hearing
has been scheduled for the bill, which has yet to draw any co-sponsors.

"My goal is to save as many babies as we possibly can," said Patrick,
who also has a bill to trigger an abortion ban in Texas should the U.S.
Supreme Court ever reverse its landmark 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade,
legalizing abortion.

Critics say his bill doesn't recognize the complex issues involved in a
woman's decision to place her baby for adoption and comes dangerously
close to baby selling.

One anti-abortion group — while supporting the goal of encouraging
adoption over abortion — expressed caution.

"We just need to make sure there isn't even the perception of baby
buying going on," said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance
for Life.

An organization that supports a woman's right to choose said Patrick's
bill is terrible.

"It's the stuff nightmares are made of," said Fran Hagerty of the
Women's Health and Family Planning Association of Texas. "This is
insulting to women and also insulting to all the great charitable
organizations out there that do wonderful work finding adoptive parents
and taking care of the birth mother."

It is a crime in Texas to offer to give a thing of value to another for
acquiring a child for purposes of adoption. Exceptions are made for
necessary pregnancy-related expense that benefit the mother.

Patrick said the payments would not be akin to baby selling.

"We're just giving someone an incentive to put your baby up for
adoption," he said. "Then the baby goes through the normal adoptive
process. No one is coming in here and buying a baby."

Another group that advocates reproductive freedom said the emphasis
should be on preventing unplanned pregnancies by providing women with
birth-control options.

"If Sen. Dan Patrick wants to improve women's health care options, then
he should support the Prevention First Act, which includes common sense
ways to reduce the need for abortion," said Carol Drennan, interim
executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, in a prepared statement.

The head of a national adoption-policy group said a recent study on
birth mothers who gave up their children found that many experienced
lifelong guilt over their decision.

Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption
Institute, said good adoption practice means presenting all options on a
level playing field.

"You let women respectfully make the best decision they can at an
excruciatingly difficult time. Introducing money into the mix can be
coercive," Pertman said.

If the bill reduced the 77,374 abortions performed in Texas in 2005 by 5
percent, more than 3,000 babies' lives would be saved, Patrick said.