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Adoption limit still worries Beebe

One year after passage, act’s effects murky

By Amy Upshaw

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A year after voters passed a measure limiting access to adoptions and foster parenting, Gov. Mike Beebe said he’s still concerned the law will adversely affect children needing families.

Asked whether he thought Initiated Act No. 1 should be overturned, Beebe said, “I never was for it to begin with. The only way I know how to answer your question is if it ever comes up again, I’ll vote the same way I did before.”

The Department of Human Services, which oversees the foster-care system, has not studied the effects of the act that bans cohabiting, unmarried couples from adopting children in Arkansas or serving as foster parents.

The Arkansas Family Council Action Committee proposed Act 1 after ...

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This article was published November 5, 2009 at 5:45 a.m.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 11/05/2009

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Comments on Adoption limit still worries Beebe

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arkie says...

The governor thinks he knows better than the majority of voters. That's hardly news. Not to worry though, the advocates of single parent adoption will find a judge who also thinks h/she knows better than the majority of voters to overturn this law by judicial fiat.

November 5, 2009 at 8:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

brentpeterson_sbcglobal.net says...

Arkie, I'm sorry that your perspective is narrow on this issue as the majority of Arkansans displayed in the vote. When can we hope that inclusiveness, rather than exclusion, will gain a foothold in our state? Would you also like to go back to 1957 and side with Governor Faubus? This is exactly one more civil rights issue that you and others, who really do "know better," can ignore playing your trump card of unctuosity.

November 5, 2009 at 8:37 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kcjenkins says...

The simple but painful fact is that if a couple can not 'commit' to each other enough to marry, how can they be trusted with the long-term commitment to raise a child? This is about what is best for the CHILD, not about the wishes of the adults. I want to increase the number of children who are adopted. I was adopted, thank God. But putting them into unstable homes, with people who are not committed to their own relationship, is very risky for the child.

November 5, 2009 at 11:36 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

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