Adoption is slated to be a significant concern for the Alabama Legislature in the 2023 regular session after a massive rewriting of the state's adoption laws.
Since the overturning of Roe V. Wade in June 2022, conversations surrounding the adoption process in the state have grown exponentially.
See: Adoption in Alabama: parents, agencies, lawmakers weigh in.
According to State Rep. Ginny Shaver (R-Leesburg), since Alabama's near-ban on abortion, the need for expediting the adoption process is paramount.
"My focus, being a former crisis pregnancy counselor, I thought that getting Roe vs. Wade overturned was the holy grail of all things to get done," Shaver said. But that doesn't mean it's over; it really means our work is just beginning because we've got to be more proactive about providing options and helping girls and women keeping their babies or choosing to place for adoption."
A four-year-long process of revamping the state legal code has delayed further adoption of legislation, a process which is now completed.
According to Shaver, she and others have delayed additional bills easing restrictions on the adoption process due to a mass rewriting of Alabama's adoption code.
The Alabama Law Institute, a body that seeks to simplify, revise and fill in gaps in out-of-date laws and clarify legal confusion, has been working on the state's adoption code for over four years.
"In the past couple years, after we passed the [abortion] ban, I was bringing some adoption legislation and found out the Alabama law institute had already been working on updating the adoption code, which it had not been on quite some time and needed an overhaul," Shaver continued.
"… I've held off and let this committee – and I've been participating for the last year or so – finish up, and they have and have just turned it over to Legislative Services to begin the bill drafting process. So, let's get the code updated and do some separate legislation, if we can, to try and improve the [adoption] process."
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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