Adoption bill moves forward

The Senate Judiciary Committee passes its own version of a bill aimed at modernizing Georgia’s adoption laws without the controversial religious liberty language that stalled the measure last year.

After taking heat from Gov. Nathan Deal and House Speaker David Ralston, the Senate is now moving quickly on the measure.

“We’re obviously moving it with some pace which I think will be beneficial,” Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle told reporters, including WSB’s Sandra Parrish, at Wednesday’s Eggs and Issues Breakfast.

He says the Senate had concerns with the House bill last session and a study committee met over the summer in an effort to perfect it.

“There were certainly concerns in the Senate that you could create an opportunity where you literally could be selling babies for adoption and making it for financial gain. Obviously, that has been taken out and severely restricted in the Senate version,” says Cagle.

Changes to the House bill made by the Senate committee include raising the minimum age a person can adopt from 18 to 21, requiring living expenses only be paid to the mother through an adoption agency and not a private attorney, and giving a birth mother 72 hours to change her mind rather than waiving any waiting period.

The committee also stripped its own amendment that provided protections to adoption agencies that did not want to adopt to certain couples.

“In reflection, we have decided that these should be dealt with by a separate bill,” says committee chair Jesse Stone (R-Waynesboro).

But in a move that could still jeopardize the bill, the committee added language from HB 359 which was vetoed by the governor last year. In his veto statement, Deal said it would allow parents to grant a power of attorney for a child to an individual, or even a non-profit corporation, with no oversight by the Division of Family and Children Service.

It was enough to concern committee member Sen. Elana Parent (D-Atlanta) who voted against it.

“It was my understanding that we were getting fairly strong requests that we come out with a clean bill. And so, I’m feeling nervous for our efforts here putting on legislation that the Governor just vetoed,” she told the committee.

The bill passed 8-2 and could go before the full Senate late next week. No word on reaction yet from Deal or Ralston.

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