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Full-Text Articles in Law
Foster Care And The Growing Tension Between The Religion Clauses: A Comment On Rogers V. Hhs, Robert W. Tuttle
Foster Care And The Growing Tension Between The Religion Clauses: A Comment On Rogers V. Hhs, Robert W. Tuttle
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the State of South Carolina agreed to waive their requirements of religious non-discrimination by state-funded, licensed child placement agencies. The state had discovered that its largest provider, Miracle Hill, approved the applications of only those who shared its Evangelical Protestant faith. Eden Rogers and Brandy Welch, a Unitarian, married same-sex couple, applied to Miracle Hill to be certified as foster parents. After Miracle Hill refused on religious grounds to assess the couple’s fitness, the couple filed suit against various federal and state defendants, alleging that the waivers constituted an …
Old Lessons For A New World: Applying Adoption Research And Experience To Art, Naomi R. Cahn
Old Lessons For A New World: Applying Adoption Research And Experience To Art, Naomi R. Cahn
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
This article suggests that knowledge derived from adoption-related research and experience can be used to improve law, policy and practice in the world of assisted reproductive technologies (ART), particularly with respect to sperm, egg and embryo "donations." While there are numerous and significant differences between adoption and ART, the article identifies several areas in which adoption's lessons could be useful. These include secrecy and the withholding of information; a focus on the best interests of children; the creation of "nontraditional" families, particularly as more single, gay and lesbian adults use ART; the impact of market forces; and legal and regulatory …
Embryo Fundamentalism, Naomi R. Cahn, June Caborne
Embryo Fundamentalism, Naomi R. Cahn, June Caborne
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
The battle for the future of assisted reproduction technologies (ART) has been joined. The tacit compromise underlying assisted reproduction - no laws are passed that even tangentially sanction embryo destruction and no laws are passed that intrude on the profitability of fertility treatments - may be coming to an end. As use of ART has increased, so have calls for supervision and oversight. In the wake of "Octomom" Nadya Suleman's use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) to give birth to octuplets, the calls to regulate assisted reproduction have become even more pressing. At the same time, religious communities ambivalent about …
Embryo Exchanges And Adoption Tax Credits, Naomi R. Cahn, Sarah B. Lawsky
Embryo Exchanges And Adoption Tax Credits, Naomi R. Cahn, Sarah B. Lawsky
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
The “Option of Adoption Act,” a Georgia law that was introduced by a staunchly anti-abortion Georgia state representative, establishes procedures for genetic donors to relinquish their rights to embryos before birth and permits, but does not require, embryo recipients to petition a court for recognition that they are the legal parents of a child born to them as a result of an embryo transfer. This article clears up what seems to be widespread confusion about a fairly straightforward question of tax law related to such embryo “adoptions.” Notwithstanding various sources' claims to the contrary, neither a Georgia adoption tax credit …
Necessary Subjects: The Need For A Mandatory National Donor Gamete Registry, Naomi R. Cahn
Necessary Subjects: The Need For A Mandatory National Donor Gamete Registry, Naomi R. Cahn
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
This brief article calls for a mandatory national donor gamete registry. It first discusses the history of secrecy in the adoption context before turning to issues involving confidentiality in the donor context. After analyzing the issues involved in maintaining the secrecy of donor gametes, the article ultimately recommends the establishment of a national information registry, similar to that in place in numerous other countries, to keep track of children both through donor egg, embryo, and sperm, as well as the identities of the gamete providers. Participation in the registry would be mandatory for anyone involved in supplying donor gametes. Once …
Foster Children Awaiting Adoption Under The Adoption And Safe Families Act Of 1997, Catherine J. Ross
Foster Children Awaiting Adoption Under The Adoption And Safe Families Act Of 1997, Catherine J. Ross
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
This article discusses the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 and how it relates to the rules created by constitutional law and federal legislation about shifting children between foster care and adoption. The article focuses on the 15/22 months rule, which provides that a state should pursue adoption for a child who has remained in foster care for fifteen of the preceding 22 months and encourages states to take action to implement the 15/22 months rule to comply with the Constitution and federal law, noting that many children in foster care will need pre-adoptive and adoptive homes.
Families Without Paradigms: Child Poverty And Out-Of-Home Placement In Historical Perspective, Catherine J. Ross
Families Without Paradigms: Child Poverty And Out-Of-Home Placement In Historical Perspective, Catherine J. Ross
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
In this Article, Prof. Ross argues that no single paradigm of family relationships adequately serves the emotional needs of children who enter the foster care system due to the poverty of their parents. According to Prof. Ross, the needs of such children are increasingly at issue because of the likely effect on poor families of interactions between the Personal Responsibility Act (PRA) and the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). Reliable data is not yet available on children who are moved into foster care as their families lose welfare benefits or on those who are placed in adoptive homes in …