Ruth Institute Blog

STATEMENT OF  MOST REVEREND EDWARD K. BRAXTON, BISHOP OF BELLEVILLE,  MOST REVEREND R. DANIEL CONLON, BISHOP OF JOLIET, AND
MOST REVEREND THOMAS JOHN PAPROCKI, BISHOP OF SPRINGFIELD IN ILLINOIS  REGARDING THE ENDING OF APPEALS OF FOSTER CARE LITIGATION

It is with deep regret that we have decided to relinquish our appeals in the litigation concerning the provision of foster care and adoption services by Catholic Charities of the Dioceses of Joliet and Springfield in Illinois and by Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois in the Diocese of Belleville. This lawsuit had sought clarification as to whether the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act passed at the end of last year protected the freedom of faith-based agencies to provide foster care and adoption services in accord with their religious beliefs. Read more…

by Charlie Butts and Bob Kellogg

After 90 years of assisting in providing foster care for children, Catholic Charities of Illinois has been forced to cease services.

The problem began with passage of the Illinois civil unions law for same-gender pairs, which led the state to force Christian foster care and adoption organizations to consider homosexual couples, even though that is contrary to basic Christian doctrine. Catholic Charities filed suit, but the state has already begun transferring the children out. Read more…

You would be amazed at how often I hear some version of this one: “You say marriage is about attaching mothers and fathers to their children and to one another.  What about adoption?”  Or, “you say kids need a mom and a dad. I had a stepfather who was better than my biological dad.” Or the worst version of this I ever heard, “you broke the bonds between your adopted son and his biological parents. How can you say biology is important?”  This last comment is particularly idiotic because my son was in a Romanian orphanage for over two years before we had ever heard of him. The bond with his biological parents had Read more…

Note: This post was researched and written by Mr. Austin Muck, second year law student  at SMU, and legal intern for the summer at the Ruth Institute.  Dr J  

Recently the Supreme Court of Ohio appropriately decided a case that protected the constitutional right of parents to determine what is in the best interest of their children.  Subsequently, the Columbus Dispatch published an article putting the decision in negative light.  The article left out key facts of the case in order to portray it as an infringement on parental rights of same-sex partners.  In the case, Mullen decided to have baby, a decision supported by her girlfriend Hobbs.  However, the women split two years after Mullen had the baby.  Immediately after the split, Hobbs, with no biological relation, sought partial custody of the child.   Hobbs claimed Mullen relinquished her sole custody, because several documents— that were later revoked—listed Hobbs as the “co-parent in every way” and because Mullen held her out as a parent.  However, Mullen consistently refused to enter into or sign any formal shared-custody agreement when presented with the opportunity to do so.  This is a fact the article fails to mention.  Read more…

Study after study confirms that children do best when raised by a married couple, and worse when reared by a cohabiting couple. Yet the ACLU has been pursuing a legal campaign against states that have adoption laws which favor married couples. And just last month the Arkansas Supreme Court bought the ACLU argument and struck down laws that banned adoption by cohabiters. But there is some good news: At the end of the month, Arizona’s governor approved a law giving preference to marriage couples. Brad Wilcox explains. Read more…

I haven’t seen many details on the Delaware case I posted the other day.  But one fact is clear: the non-mother in same sex couple did not do a second party adoption. If she had done an adoption, she would have the same parental rights as the woman who went to Kazakhstan to adopt the child in the first place.  With a second party adoption, there would be no case here at all. According to the story, “Delaware does allow such adoptions, and Guest intended to file those papers later.”  

She “intended” to file for adoption, but never did.  We can only speculate as to why.

1. Maybe she just didn’t get around to it, and there was no other reason.

2. Maybe she didn’t really want to.  Maybe she only wanted to after the sexual relationship broke up, and she wanted to be vindictive.  Dissolving sexual relationships can bring out the worst in people.

3. Maybe the adoptive mother decided, all things considered, that she didn’t want to allow her child to be adopted by someone else. 

To those of you who are defending this Delaware law, I have a couple of questions.

1. Does it make any difference to you, which of these reasons accounts for Guest’s failure to file the adoption papers?

2. Does it make any difference to you, whether Guest had a sexual relationship with Smith or not?  And if it does, explain why Guest’s sexual involvement with an adoptive mother should make her automatically a priveleged candidate for adopting her child?

An Arkansas law that allows only a married man and woman to adopt or foster children was up for debate recently before the state Supreme Court.

The measure, designated as Act 1, was approved by 57 percent of voters in November 2008.  It reads: “A minor may not be adopted or placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state. The prohibition of this section applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.”

The ACLU, however, challenged the law, claiming it discriminates against homosexuals — and a judge struck it down, ruling that the measure violated constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection.  At the recent oral arguments before the Arkansas Supreme Court, Byron Babione — senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) — explained the law is about protecting kids. Read more…

(March 1, 2011) Maggie Gallagher appears on Dennis O’Donovan’s “Religion, Politics, and the Culture” to discuss President Obama’s refusal to uphold DoMA and the ramifications of this approach to legal and policy matters.  Listen here.

(March 2, 2011) Dr J appears on Dennis O’Donovan’s “Religion, Politics, and the Culture” to discuss the links between redefining marriage and redefining parenthood and her recent trip to testify before the Rhode Island legislature.  Listen here.

by Carolyn Moynihan

Adoption has been under attack in recent decades and has almost disappeared within western countries as an option for a mother who is not in a position to bring up her child. Perhaps it was often handled badly in the past, but family scholar Pat Fagan has found solid evidence that adoption works well for children.

Adoption in the first 12 months of the child’s life produces the best outcomes, but all children will benefit, regardless of their age at placement. Adopted children outperform their non-adopted peers and non-adopted siblings. Read more…

This article from Canada’s National Post focuses on a woman’s quest to give Donor Conceived Persons the right to search for their genetic, but absent parent. This is a right accorded to adopted children, but not to Donor Conceived Persons.

One young woman I interviewed some months ago, who is making a documentary about her story, reported that she had become obsessed with her genetic heritage. She couldn’t understand how it could be assumed that she would feel the same sense of self-worth as children conceived normally. As another sperm donor adult child put it: “If my life is for other people’s purposes, and not my own, then what is the purpose of my life?”

Read it all here.

Part 1. in a series of responses to a question posed by a student.

No one contract can treat same sex couples and opposite sex couples identically.

(Warning: this post is long! But Worth the effort if I do say so myself!)

1. If you believed that it is not possible for the government to be neutral in the definition of marriage, would that change your view of the desirability of your proposal? Read more…

Two more disputed lesbian custody cases are coming in Ohio. both these cases have the following features:
1. a biological mother does not want her former lesbian partner to have parental rights over her child.
2. the former partner and the mother dispute many details of their relationship to each other and their agreement regarding the child.
3. no second party adoption was done, although in one case, “But before the child was born, Mullen (the biological mother) signed legal documents naming Hobbs (her lesbian partner) as Lucy’s co-parent. After the couple broke up, Mullen voided that agreement.”

Without knowing what this agreement actually said, it is hard to know what is going on here. But what is clear, is that adoption is the traditional way the law has attached parental rights to people who are not biologically related to the child. With that in mind, listen to this chilling statement:

Camilla Taylor, a senior staff attorney for Lambda Legal, an advocacy group for gays, said Ohio law recognizes the parental rights of people who have no biological relationship with a child. Read more…

Chuck colson’s Center just published an article of mine by that title.

We’ll have the whole thing up soon, I’m sure. In the meantime, here is a snippet. And don’t forget to visit the Colson Center for more cool info.

As a woman who has given birth to a child, who has been an adoptive mother, and who has been a foster mother, I think I know what I’m talking about here. It really wouldn’t have been good for our son for us to share parental rights with his birth mother in Romania. And we actually did kind of share parental rights with the birth parents and the social workers when we were foster parents. The birth parents did not have custody of their children, but they still had the right to see their children. Read more…

From OneNewsNow:

“A pro-family leader in Arkansas is denouncing a state judge’s decision to strike down a law banning unmarried, cohabiting couples from adopting or fostering children.

“The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the law that was approved by 57 percent of Arkansas voters….”

Read it here.

Heather MacDonald has an outstanding article in National Review on the impact of artificial reproductive technology on the family.

Every time a homosexual couple conceives a child, there is another parent offstage somewhere whose sperm or egg has allowed conception to occur (and, in the case of male homosexuals, whose womb has allowed gestation to occur). In some homosexual families, that parent will be involved in his child’s life; in others, he will remain completely anonymous and unknown. Read more…

Margaret Somerville , Mercatornet.com

Should adopted children have the right to be connected in some way to their biological parents?

Does each of us have a right to know, where possible, through whom life travelled down the generations to us? Do other individuals and society have obligations not intentionally to make it impossible for us to know that? Do adopted children have a right to keep their ties with their biological families, unless that is contrary to the “best interests” of a particular child? These and many other questions about children’s rights are raised by a recent opinion piece by my colleague, Robert Leckey. Read more…

By Nick Pisa

At the orphanage the two babies were known as Archibald and Mary. They didn’t even have surnames.

But within a few months they had been adopted and their lives transformed. They became Prince Jonathan and Princess Gesine and grew up surrounded by stunning wealth.

However, it seems the fairytale may not end as happily as it began. Read more…

By Trayce Hansen, Ph.D.

As mental health professionals, it’s our ethical and moral obligation to support policies that are in the best interest of those we serve, particularly those who are most vulnerable—namely, children. Same-sex marriage may be in the best interest of adult homosexuals who yearn for social and legal recognition of their unions, but it’s not in the best interest of children.

Proponents of same-sex marriage believe love is all children really need. Based on that supposition, they conclude it’s just as good for children to be raised by loving parents of the same sex, as by loving parents of the opposite sex. But that basic assumption—and all that flows from it—is naively simplistic and denies the complex nature and core needs of human beings. Read more…

Charlie Butts – OneNewsNow

The National Embryo Donation Center has received federal grants to educate the public.

Much of the public is unaware that stored embryos can be adopted. Center spokesman Dr. Jeffrey Keenan tells OneNewsNow the first grant will be used to remedy that problem. Read more…

Carolyn Moynihan

Girl babies adopted by American and other overseas couples from orphanages in China in recent years may have been forcibly taken from their parents, not abandoned, as the adoptive parents were told. The Los Angeles Times reports at length on a scandal that can be laid at the door of China’s inhuman population control policy and corrupt local family planning officials. Read more…