Monday, October 26, 2009

Call to Action: FACE legislation

Holt International has posted their concerns about the Foreign Adopted Children Equality (FACE) Act, which they oppose for very good reasons:
A fundamental principle of professional and ethical adoption practice is a commitment to preserving the full and true history and record of the adoption triad; including the birth family, the adoptee, and adoptive family.

In an effort to allow children adopted internationally to be eligible to become US President, FACE diminishes the accurate and critical history of a child’s beginning and connection to birth country. Instead, FACE establishes an artificial history and nationality that severs the valuable and profoundly treasured reality of children adopted from one country and culture to another.

In the evolution of intercountry adoption practice over three generations, it has been firmly established that it must be a priority to preserve the culture and heritage of adoptees to their birth country and culture.
I've written before about the Natural Born Citizen Clause of the Constitution that purports to prevent foreign-born American citizens from becoming President of the United States. I've argued that our children can be President because the later passage of the Equal Protection Clause has already amended the Natural Born Citizen Clause out of the Constitution. So I consider the FACE Act to convey no benefit, with substantial costs to our children.

Even if I believed that failing to pass the Act would prevent foreign-born adopted children from becoming President, I would consider it a cost worth bearing, if the alternative is to create a fictitious history for the child that diminishes the connection to birth country and heritage. Talk about Destroying the Past!

Click here to read more and to contact your legislators if so motivated.

5 comments:

Jeff and Madeline said...

Thanks Malinda. Also, thanks for the post on fb, I really like that it is so easy to spread the word that way.

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Scott said...

Malinda -

The HOLT actions alert badly misrepresents that FACE act, to the point of completely lying about what the act does. I would hope people would educate themselves by READING the act, such as the part that says "Nothing in this Act, or in any amendment made by this Act, may be construed to-
(1) abrogate any citizenship rights provided to an adoptee by the adoptee’s country of origin; orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink
(2) nullify the facts of the adoptee’s birth history.

The bill sponsors have published a response that makes me wonder what HOLT is really up to with this.

Scott said...

Link to response of bill sponsors to HOLT:

http://www.kidsave.org/pdf/ResponseHoltFACEAct.pdf

Why does HOLT misrepresent this act???

malinda said...

I agree that everyone should read the act -- I've done so, and I do not believe that Holt has misrepresented anything. I think the response at kidsave just shows a difference of opinion about the act, not anything factually incorrect in what Holt has said.

As an FYI, Holt was not my agency, I don't have any particular liking for it, but I agree with its opinion about the FACE legislation.