Abortion Funding

The Medicaid program was initiated to provide federal financial assistance to states that chose to reimburse the costs of certain medical procedures to needy individuals. In 1976, the Hyde Amendment was passed. The Hyde Amendment severely limited the use of federal funds to reimburse for costs associated with abortions.

Child Welfare Agencies' Potential Malpractice Liability for Inadequate or Inappropriate Foster Care Services

If a child welfare agency or caseworker determines that a child needs to be moved into protective custody, the agency's duty to that child is not discharged. The agency or caseworker has a continuing duty to ensure that the child is not mistreated in her foster care home.

Bigamy

Bigamy is the act of marrying one person while legally married to another. Bigamy is a criminal offense when it is knowingly committed. Bigamy is the wilful contracting of a second marriage when the contracting party knows that the first is still subsisting; or it is the state of a man who has two wives, or of a woman who has two husbands living at the same time. The punishment of the offence varies by state.

Misuse of Adoption Affecting Economic Rights

Courts generally prohibit parties from using the adoption process to achieve purposes that would have a detrimental economic effect on the children involved. An attempt by a birth parent to adopt his or her own children for the purpose of terminating the other birth parent's relationship with the children is a misuse of adoption. Also, an agreement to release birth parents from support obligations in exchange for their consent to an adoption is a misuse of adoption.

Planning for a Disabled Child

There are many parents that have children with disabilities. It is important for those parents to plan for the care of their children when the parents are no longer living. Often times, when parental death occurs the responsibility of the disabled child falls on the siblings, other family members, or the community.