Posted: | December 22, 2020 10:12 AM |
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From: | Senator Michele Brooks |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Expansion of Grandparent Adoption Rights |
I will be reintroducing legislation that will aim to put grandparents, great-grandparents, and stepparents on the same legal footing in regards to adoption as other third parties. This legislation was Senate Bill 776 of the 2019-2020 session, and was cosponsored by Senators Mensch, DiSanto, Folmer, Phillips-Hill, Stefano, K. Ward, Costa, Blake, Brewster, Fontana and Yudichak. According to Pennsylvania law, all physical and legal custody rights to a child are terminated when the child is adopted, and all physical and legal custody rights are fully vested in the adoptive parents. However, the law also allows for a loophole, in which some legal or physical custody rights of another person to a child may survive the adoption process, if the adoptive parent is a grandparent, great-grandparent, or stepparent. There is already a system in place to determine whether an individual is a fit parent to adopt a child, and we must treat all individuals equally under the law. There is no reason, in today’s society, for these individuals to have less parental rights when adopting a child than any other, and this legislation will aim to remedy this issue. I hope you will join me in cosponsoring this important piece of legislation. Please do not hesitate to contact my office with any questions. |