From Shanamadele:
A technical note: in order to endorse candidates, the “caring adoption program” would have to have a political action committee. Just looking at both NCFA’s and Evan B. Donaldson’s websites, I’m guessing that they are both 501 (c) 3 organizations (probably with the h designation that increases their ability to lobby). This is only a guess, of course. If that is the case, those organizations would lose their tax status as non-profits if they were to endorse candidates.
A quick Google search of the words “adoption political action committee” (but not in quotes) comes up with roughly three relevant categories of pages. One is from gay-rights organizations fighting for (among other things) the rights of queer people to adopt. Another is from conservative groups, like the Arkansas Family Council, fighting the rights of gay men and lesbians to adopt. Finally, I see pages from adoptee groups fighting for open-records laws.
So, there are a number of groups lobbying around adoption issues. If they were to form PACs, I think it is unclear that there would be consensus about what makes a candidate a “pro-caring adoption” candidate. Even the Donaldson Institute is looking for funding for a project on embryo adoption — causing me concern about what criteria they would apply to candidates if they were to form a PAC and endorse candidates.
I didn’t know this and I thought maybe some of my readers might not either so wanted to give y’all a heads up.
Possibly related posts:
Oh – now I feel honored — and that I’d better clarify a few things.
First, the eye-glazing part. For a (c) 3 organization are sometimes affiliated with (3) 4 organizations that have political action committees. Sometimes these groups have similar names (like the Family Council or NARAL), but they don’t always. I just took a look on the FEC website, and there’s no committee with “adopt” or “donaldson” as part of the name.
Also, just to clarify paragraph 3 above, aside from adoptee groups working in individual states, the only groups I see who are considering how a candidate stands on adoption when making an endorsement decision are multi-issue organizations whose major concern about adoption is whether gay men/lesbians should have the right to adopt. (The Family Council will argue that they don’t want unmarried people to adopt, period, but they undermine that argument by pointing out that allowing unmarried people to adopt is part of the “homosexual agenda.”)