Over at the conservative website Townhall.com, John Stossel (formerly of 20/20) writes an eyebrow-raising piece called USA Makes Adoption Harder. I want to be very clear that some of Stossel’s statements make me uncomfortable, and this is not an endorsement of Stossel’s article. But much of what he says is a simple reality, however unpopular it is to say. Incidentally, notice that Stossel adopts the language of adoption opponents when he uses the expression “baby broker”; he’s not endorsing the idea that actual baby-brokering is moral.
Here are some highlights from the article:
The State Department says the Guatemalan adoption system “unduly enriches” so-called baby brokers and that “Guatemala has not established the required central authority to oversee intercountry adoption.”
“Central authority”? This from our government? They sound like Soviet apparatchiks.
Eduardo Verástegui [the lead actor] knows his little film (he also co-produced it) won’t dominate the box office. But he doesn’t mind. “I was caught up in the stardom and money of this business, like so many actors,” he told us, “But I was drawn to do this. To just do something worthwhile.” Thus, he and his fellow producers stepped away from successful careers to pursue an independent film with no guarantees. He said with emotion, “What I’d love to see happen with this film is to someday have this 12-year-old knock on my door and say that her mother was going to have an abortion. But she saw this film. That would be my Oscar.”