Dear Governor Lingle:
I URGE YOU TO VETO HB 1830 which would create safe havens for women to
anonymously abandon their unwanted infants. You vetoed it last session
and I beg you to stand tall and strong and veto it again! You won't be
sorry!
I am adopted woman in her 60's, long active in adoptee rights
issues, and I know first hand how very wrong it is for any government
to strip in perpetuity even one baby of her ethnic history and
identity.
HB 1830 will not solve the problem of crisis pregnancies. In states
with safe haven laws, infants are still being dumped in trash bins,
toilets and back alleys. The solution to this tragic problem does not
lie with the creation of safe havens. Preventing disastrous results
from crisis pregnancies is a mental health issue. Viable solutions
must come from the psychiatric community - not from folks who want to
pass a bill that might "save one baby." These people are looking to
solve the problem after the fact instead of trying to reach women in
crises before they give birth. Please say NO to these well meaning but
misguided individuals.
HB 1830 would seriously damage the practice of "Hanai" in which
extended family and community care insures that children unable to be
reared by their biological parents are lovingly kept within the family
or close community where their identity and heritage remain intact.
HB 1830 would deny certain government benefits available to all
Native Hawai'ians because the "safe havened" infants would be
unable to prove their Native ancestry.
HB 1830 flies in the face of 100 years of social welfare and best
practices for children. It has been the norm until now for social
work professionals to rigorously oppose child abandonment of any
kind.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment