Abortion or Adoption?  The Choice is Yours

From Hawaii Family Forum November, 2017

The month of November is National Adoption Month. While Americans have a proud and generous history of taking children into their homes and providing them with loving and supportive families, Hawai'i is the state where "ohana means family."  We all remember that touching moment in Lilo and Stitch when Stitch replies, "[t]his is my family and I found it all on my own. It's little and broken, but still good."  Or the statement of Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings, "there is still some good in the world Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for."

I'm sure you agree that ohana is worth fighting for.

Americans adopt approximately 140,000 children per year, more than doubling China, the country with the second highest number of adoptions after the United States. Despite our open homes, over a half million children are in foster care in America each year, and over a quarter of those children won’t be returning to their birth families.  We recently did a podcast with local faith-based organization Harvest Family Life Ministries about foster care.  We hope you had a chance to listen to the two podcasts.  If you missed the podcasts, they are located here.

While the American foster system is quite large, over 50% of adoptions take place through private and independent adoption.  So, when private adoption agencies begin shutting their doors, it is the children who suffer by remaining in state care longer.

In 2006, the Washington Times was one of the news outlets that reported that Catholic Charities of Boston, one of the nation’s oldest adoption agencies, shut down their adoption services. In order to receive a state license, Massachusetts passed a law that would require Catholic Charities of Boston to violate their religious mission by placing children with same-sex couples and referring young girls for abortions. Since then, some states have begun to pass laws that would protect private and religious child-placement agencies and foster families from state discrimination. Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and South Dakota are the trailblazers in protecting these vital charities that are critical for quicker placement of children into forever homes and families.

Our own Kelly Rosati, the first executive director of Hawaii Family Forum, has been instrumental in making these substantial changes across the nation.  Currently she serves as the Vice-President Advocacy for Children at Focus on the Family.

The numbers are clear—private adoption agencies are critical to meet the needs of half the children adopted each year. As National Adoption Month advances, Hawaii Family Forum will continue to support policies that protect religious freedom for faith-based adoption agencies and foster families. Will you help us stay in the game?

When it comes to children who need families now, we believe it is important for each of us in Hawai'i to lay aside what divides us and unite around working to ensure that every child has a safe home to live in and the support of a loving family, whether they are placed by a religious organization or the state.

On the other side of the coin, unfortunately, abortion is still a legal option - and Hawai'i is in the top ten for abortions.

Americans United for Life ranks Hawaii as #45 in the nation on issues of life.  Why?  Because Hawaii lacks the most basic protections for women and unborn children. The state fails to require informed consent for abortion, to mandate parental involvement in a minor’s abortion decision, or to ensure that abortion clinics meet minimum health and safety standards. Hawaii also fails to protect unborn victims of violence and to ban destructive embryo research or human cloning.

That's why we encourage you to listen to our podcast this week as Janet Grace-Hochberg and I discuss this very important issue.  This four-part interview is not something you will hear anywhere else.  Check back to this page every Friday for the new edition of this 4-part interview.

In the meantime, thanks for "choosing" to read this email.  Your life matters to us as it does to the King of Kings.  

Have a great weekend!

Eva Andrade

President

  *   *   *   *   *

DS: ACLU Threatens to Stamp Out Diversity by Shuttering Faith-Based Adoption Agencies