Fight over act to limit adoptions heating up
Posted on Sunday, October 26, 2008
Proposed Initiative Act No. 1 is a bland name for a ballot measure engaging supporters and opponents in an increasingly acrimonious debate over who should be allowed to be foster or adoptive parents.
The measure would ban unmarried, cohabiting couples from becoming foster or adoptive parents. It’s on the Nov. 4 ballot for voters to adopt or reject.
The Family Council Action Committee, which led a successful 2004 effort to make gay marriage unconstitutional in Arkansas, gathered the necessary signatures to put this year’s foster-adoption proposal on the ballot.
A coalition of child-advocacy groups — including Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, the American Civil Liberties Union, and social worker and pediatrician associations — oppose the act, contending that Arkansas doesn’t have enough foster and adoptive parents and can’t afford a blanket ban on potential parents. Rather, foster and adoptive parents should be selected on a caseby-case basis, the groups say.
By mid-October, a previously simmering issue got hotter when Family Council President Jerry Cox accused the Department of Human Services of having a “gay agenda” after the agency announced it would overturn its practice of banning unmarried, cohabiting couples from becoming foster parents.
The ban, dating to 2005, had come under fire at a hearing where 18 out of 20 speakers denounced the ban as discriminatory by barring homosexual or straight unmarried couples and harmful to children by increasing their chances of having to live in group homes.
Arkansas’ lone openly gay legislator, Democrat Rep. Kathy Webb of Little Rock, charged the Family Council with “hatemongering.”
As Election Day nears, both sides say they’re worried that their positions are being obscured by rhetorical haze.
But that hasn’t stopped the sparring.
“This proposal is primarily about child welfare rather than adult rights. Some people want to focus on what’s best for adults. This act focuses on what’s best for children,” Cox said.
Cox said children do best when they live in a home with a married mother and father.
“To whatever extent you depart from that ideal [you ] get situations that are less and less favorable for children,” he said.
Not so, said Jennifer Ferguson, deputy director of Arkansas Advocates. Her group and others in the coalition are childwelfare advocates and professionals and “are focused on the best interests of children,” she said.
The Family Council’s attempt to recast the debate around gay rights is a “defensive” attempt to muddle the issue, she said.
“We simply don’t have enough foster care or adoptive homes in this state. It’s a confusing issue and the Family Council is trying to confuse people even more,” Ferguson said.
Cox said his group decided to raise the “gay agenda” issue after the Oct. 2 hearing at Human Services. Cox said the coalition made its “pro-gay” intentions known at that hearing.
Ferguson finds that argument unpersuasive.
“They keep changing their message because they haven’t found one yet that will sway voters,” she said.
On any given day, about 3, 700 children are in foster care. Only about 1, 100 foster homes are ready to take them, agency officials have said.
The group said its strategy will be primarily church-based. More than 300, 000 church bulletin inserts have been prepared and about 2, 500 volunteers will be available to spread the message, Cox said.
Opponents have lined up exjudges and former foster parents to issue statements opposing the ballot measure. They’ve also been joined by Gov. Mike Beebe, U. S. Rep. Vic Snyder, former U. S. Sen. Dale Bumpers and two dozen current and former state Democratic legislators, including incoming House Speaker Robbie Wills of Conway, incoming state Sen. Joyce Elliott of Little Rock and state Sen. Jim Argue of Little Rock.
Arkansas Families First, the coalition of opponents, also has produced a nine-minute DVD at a cost of about $ 12, 000 to show to groups around the state. Last week, the coalition announced that a 30-second ad culled from the DVD will run statewide.
Cox said “it’s hard to tell” which way public opinion is going on the issue.
“Our basic hurdle is lack of understanding. If you were to ask 100 people on the street corner, a large number of people will tell you they’ve never heard of the [initiated act ],” Cox said. “But I hope Arkansans won’t let Gov. Beebe or anyone else tell them how to vote.”
Ferguson said she believes the momentum is behind opponents, bolstered by a popular governor’s support.
“As we educate more and more people, they’re realizing how harmful it can be,” she said.
A poll released last week by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville indicated that 55 percent of registered voters opposed the measure. Thirtyeight percent favored it, and 7 percent were undecided.
The question stated: “Proposed Initiated Act 1 would prevent anyone who is cohabitating outside of a valid marriage from adopting or fostering a child. Given this description, do you favor or oppose this measure ?”
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2. 5 percent.
The measure is one of five on the ballot this year. Others include a proposed constitutional amendment to authorize a state lottery to fund college scholarships, another to mandate annual legislative sessions, a referred act authorizing bonds for water, wastewater and pollution abatement facilities, and a constitutional amendment that would repeal voting language the measure’s backers deem outdated.
A proposed initiated act, if adopted by voters, becomes part of the state’s laws. An initiated act, unlike most constitutional amendments, can be amended or repealed by the Legislature by a two-thirds majority of the state House of Representatives and state Senate.
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