Arkansas Blog: Fighting the adoption ban

As I mentioned earlier, the new group to oppose the law restricting foster parenting and adoption was evident at polls today. Leaders also held a news conference to talk about their opposition to the measure, which is aimed at gay people and part of an indirect effort to mobilize Religious Right voters in November. Gay bashing aside, the measure will further restrict an already undersized pool of potential parents for children who need them; inject the state into private sexual practices (including those of heterosexuals), and create enormous legal problems.

NEWS RELEASE

Little Rock, Arkansas – February 4, 2008 – Arkansas Families First, a statewide coalition of community leaders opposed to the proposed foster care and adoption ban in Arkansas, announced an Election Day effort – “Stand Up For Kids”. The effort will feature volunteers urging fellow Arkansans not to sign petitions that would put an initiative on the November ballot that would restrict Arkansans’ ability to adopt and serve as foster parents.

Members of Arkansas Families First will be at polling sites in more than 20 Arkansas communities to educate voters about why they should refuse to sign petitions for the proposed ballot initiative that restricts foster-care and adoption of parentless and neglected children.

“In today’s world there are too many threats on the well being of our state’s children, too many children in need of healthy and loving foster and adoptive homes” said Dr. Eddie Ochoa, President of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “The federal government has continued to criticize our state for the shortage of adoptive and foster care homes. We can’t afford to limit the number of stable homes for kids in need or to let kids fall through the cracks when there are qualified and caring households with open doors to serve.”

Jennifer Ferguson of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families added that, “the reality is that we already have too many children without good homes, and this proposal will leave even more children waiting for a loving home. We hope Arkansans will decline to sign the petitions for this ill-conceived and harmful initiative.”

Arkansas Families First is a statewide grassroots organization created to advocate on behalf of children. It includes the Arkansas chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Arkansas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the Inter Faith Council, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and Just Communities of Central Arkansas, the Arkansas Psychological Association, the ACLU of Arkansas, the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, the Center for Artistic Revolution, and the Stonewall Democrats.

Comments

I'll laugh in the face of anyone who would have the gall to ask me to sign that petition.

Keep up the good work, that last thing foster children need is to have a group of people deny them a loving family in the effort to make our LGBT community into second-class citizens.

There should never be such a thing as a second-class citizen in America.
Keep fighting the good fight!

Posted by: JK | February 5, 2008 03:02 PM

None of the fascist, reactionary bastards were at my Quapaw Quarter polling place. With at least one GLBT household on nearly every block their Neanderthal presence would not have been well recieved.

Posted by: Janus | February 5, 2008 03:26 PM

Good to see Arkansas upholding its national image as America's most backward bigoted state. (We're not -- that's Mississippi -- but it's our worldwide image. And at least Mississippi has casinos.)

In 1957 it was "the blacks." Fifty years later it's "the gays." (And maybe "the Mexicans.")

Who's okay to hate when Arkansas ultimately loses on THIS one and swarms of interracial GLBT married couples and mixed-race families flock to Caesars Palace River Market Casino and Resort to infuse Arkansas tourism with $500 million for their "Americans Together" Convention?

Seriously. Is it just me? Or are we in another Semicentennial Statewide Identity Crisis?

Can you recommend a therapist for SSIC?

I'll be holding my breath. Thank you.

Posted by: NormaBates | February 5, 2008 04:11 PM

Who's Yo Momma?

Embryos Created With DNA From 3 People
By MARIA CHENG (AP Medical Writer)
From Associated Press
February 05, 2008 4:29 PM EST

LONDON - British scientists say they have created human embryos containing DNA from two women and a man in a procedure that researchers hope might be used one day to produce embryos free of inherited diseases.

(note how they issue comfort words about the third paragraph down) click blue.

Posted by: eLwood | February 5, 2008 04:51 PM

Just wanted to let anyone looking up this story know that Arkansas Families First now has a web presence at http://arkansasfamiliesfirst.org/ where there's a lot of news and tips to help us keep this ballot initiative from becoming law!

Posted by: Christopher Gautam Hota | July 11, 2008 09:09 AM

Arkansas Blog

Fighting the adoption ban

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