|
September 15, 2005
Dear Friends
in Adoption:
Guatemalan adoptions are
threatened by the Ortega law, now under consideration by
members of Guatemala’s Congress. Your help is desperately
needed to shift the tide in support of the thousands of
Guatemalan-born children who would start new lives each year in
loving adoptive families.
We believe
that international adoptions from Guatemala will all but
cease if the Ortega law passes.
The proposed
new system would remove thousands of children from private
foster care and place them in orphanages. Yet, incredibly,
there is no government funding to either build orphanages or
provide adequate care for these children.
The Ortega
law would obliterate the many benefits of the current
adoption system and so complicate international adoption
that it would effectively “shut down” international adoption
from Guatemala. And even if a small number of adoptions
could be completed, the Ortega law would add months, if not
years, to the adoption process.
A group of
Guatemalan adoption attorneys with a track record for
maintaining fair adoption laws in Guatemala, the Asociación
Defensores de la Adopción (ADA), is working to defeat the
Ortega law though a mass media campaign and one-on-one
discussions with members of Congress. They have asked
adoptive parents and other adoption supporters to help them
in their fight.
The need for donations is
urgent since the Ortega law has passed the first reading and
will be decided in the near future.
For
This Child Inc. will happily match every donation it
receives (up to $20,000 total) to support the ADA’s efforts
to defeat the Ortega law.
Matches will
be made for clients and non-clients alike. These donations
will supplement funding that For This Child has already made
to support the cause.
To donate, make checks
payable to “FTC Adoption Defense Fund” and mail them to For
This Child, 1920 Abrams Parkway, Suite 185, Dallas, TX
75214. I will deliver a check to the ADA in Guatemala in
the next two weeks.
Focus on Adoption is also
collecting donations for this purpose. If you prefer to
donate through FOA, visit the FOA website at
http://www.focusonadoption.com/urgent.shtml for details
(donations to FOA will not be matched by FTC).
I urge you to donate to
either fund. Together, we can work to ensure bright futures
for thousands of Guatemalan orphans.
Sincerely,
Traci Orr, Executive
Director
For This Child Inc. |
