“Domestic Supply Of Adoptable Infants” Is Too Low, According To Some SCOTUS Justices (Okay, Yes, It’s Barrett)
“I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that makes you pro-life,” Benedictine nun Sister Joan Chittister is quoted as saying. “In fact, I think in many cases your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born, but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed.”
The leaked Supreme Court opinion that, if it reflects the final form, will overturn Roe v. Wade reveals that in fact, some justices are arguing on behalf of a group that just wants a child available.
While the focus has been, legitimately, on the central point of the opinion — that it overturns Roe — another line in it stands out significantly too.
Politico‘s release of the leaked document is 98 pages long, but on page 34, there is a key line. Quoting a passage from the CDC on parents seeking to adopt, it references “the domestic supply of infants.”
“Nearly 1 million women were seeking to adopt children in 2002 (ie, they were in demand for a child), whereas the domestic supply of infants relinquished at birth or within the first month of life and available to be adopted had become virtually nonexistent.”
That CDC document is viewable here, and is purely an analysis of statistics, not a recommendation towards the judiciary making an effort to increase said “supply.”
However, Salon points out that Amy Coney Barrett has used the phrase before, arguing that there is no need to provide abortion access to prevent forced motherhood, since safe haven laws and adoption can be that ‘out’ instead:
…the choice, more focused, would be between, say, the ability to get an abortion at 23 weeks, or the state requiring the woman to go 15, 16 weeks more and then terminate parental rights at the conclusion.
Of course, while some prospective parents may be demanding an infant to adopt — and SCOTUS seems poised to provide the demand with the “supply” — the fact is, there are, according to Adopt US Kids, 117,000 children waiting to be adopted in the United States right now.
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