Tag Archives: Erik L. Smith

Monday: Erik L. Smith on The Take Away!

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Advocate for natural parents in adoption and Bastardette guest blogger Erik L Smith will be a guest Monday morning (August 23) on NPR’s The Takeway. Erik will discuss the proposed federal Putative Father Registry bill currently in Congress. Go here to find your local schedule. The show starts at 6:00 AM edst. His segment is scheduled as of this writing for 6:49 AM. I believe it will also be available later online. You can read Erik’s work at ErikSmith.org UPDATE: Here is the link to The Takeaway discussion page on putative dads.

OHIO: STATE SECRETS PROTECT DEADBEAT DUMPERS

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On May 13, Erik Smith and I testified before the Ohio Senate Health, Human Services, and Aging Committee in opposition of SB 304 which will expand the time “desperate parents” can legally dump their baby from three days to thirty. This was the fifth hearing. I’ve been unable to attend the others, but I wanted to get a few words in before the inevitable happened. Ohio isn’t exactly adoptee friendly. (see blog below) Oddly, I was told that no one had presented oral testimony either for or against the bill, though the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services and Ohio Right to Life (who else!) supported it. After our testimony on Wednesday, Greg Kapcar, Assistant Leg Director for the Public Children’s Services Association of Ohio gave proponent testimony. (Jim McCafferty, director of Cuyahoga County CS who loves safe havens, is on PCSAO’s board). Kapcar was especially excited about an amendment added at Wednesday’s hearing to authorize baby dumping promotion, though when asked what kind of promotion was planned he didn’t know–exactly. Prompted by my earlier testimony that there was no evidence that babies 72 hours or older were being abandoned or killed in the state (which falls right in Continue Reading →

OHIO: BAD NEWS FOR BUCKEYES

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Ohio adoptees and their families got a double kick in the teeth this week. On Wednesday Sub HB 7 was voted out of the Health Committee and on to the House floor without the restoration of access language from the original bill. The ringleaders of this abomination got a real cheap thrill out of pulling the carrot away and then beating the bastards with the stick. Committee members received hundreds of emails and phone calls asking them to restore the language. What does it take to be worthy in Ohio? While this was going on down in the tunnels, the Senate Health, Human Services, and Aging Commitee was sharpening its claws on us by approving SB 304–a safe haven expansion bill that will permit “desperate parents” to dump their up-to-30-day-old problem child on the state. Up from the current 3 day limit. Erik Smith and I testified against the bill. Later tonight I’ll be posting some of my testimony and some comments. If it saves just one…. Don’t mourn! Organize! Throw the bums out!

PASS IT ON: YOU MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

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You Make the World a Better Place is making the rounds of the adoptasphere. It was sent my way by This Woman’s Work proprietor Dawn Friedman. Thanks, Dawn, for your kind words. And now, I’m passing this on to… Baby Love Child–long time friend and supporter of Bastardette, Bastard Nation, and Bastards. BLC is my Theory Girl. I’m just the technician! Ron Morgan–BB Church’s Funhouse–another longtime friend and supporter. The most righteous Bastard in the whole world! Cynical, street smart, and cool, BB is right out of a James Ellroy novel. He speaks POMO like he’s Judith Butler! He’s also co-organizing A Day For Adoptee Rights. Anita Field–Bastard Granny Annie. What can I say! From her bed of affliction she’s kickin’ ass in Illinois. Anita is one of the most dedicated bastards I know. We pre-date BN. If Anita can’t do it, nobody can! Recoop soon! Craig Hickman, author of Fumbling Toward Divinity: The Adoption Scriptures, one of the best adoption books ever! Craig is the uber Bastard writer tying together those inconvenient truths of blackness, bastardy, and queerness through the written word and performance. An absolute powerhouse! Claud Corrigan D’Arcy–Musings of the Lame–is amazing. punkette, mom, writer, and researcher. Continue Reading →

AN INTERVIEW WITH ERIK L. SMITH: SAFE HAVEN LAWS ARE IRRESPONSIBLE, WRONG, INEFFECTIVE, AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL

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Bastardette has once more become distracted by the ways of the world and has not been able to write lately. Her good friend, natural parents advocate Erik Smith has leapt into the lurch and offered us an interview on his views of Safe Haven/Baby Moses Laws. The interview was conducted a few months ago by a student from the University of Nebraska-Omaha INTERVIEW WITH ERIK L. SMITH — SAFE HAVEN LAW UNO student interview, April 2005 What do you think of safe haven laws? I think safe haven laws are irresponsible, wrong, ineffective, andunconstitutional. I mainly oppose anonymity. I am confident safe havenlaws do not save lives. Most adoption professionals oppose them too becausethe laws prey on people’s ignorance of child welfare law and policy. Consider the following analogy: A person lets his children starve to death. The accused claims he saw noother option because he was ashamed to apply for welfare and that hisfriends and relatives might find out he was not self-supporting. Thelegislature then proposes a law that lets anyone who feels ashamed of usingfood stamps get welfare automatically and anonymously because it willdecrease shoplifting and child starvation. If it saves just one life itwill be worth it. Continue Reading →