Opinion: Keeping the Adoption Tax Credit Must Be a Priority

After its recent announcement, the proposed Republican tax plan has caused controversy and disagreement. This should not come as much of a surprise, as disagreement on taxes was one of the reasons America wanted to break away from Great Britain in the first place.

While much of the technicalities surrounding tax code and loopholes leaves me confused as to how I should feel, there is one issue that is very clear: deciding to keep the tax credit of $13,000 that has been provided to families who adopted was the right choice, no matter one’s political affiliation.

Republicans originally proposed to cut this tax credit in this current round of tax reform. I am grateful, though, that Republican leadership recognized how wrong this would have been and took action to prevent it from happening.

I am relieved they recognized the miniscule amount of the federal budget this tax credit requires. The Weekly Standard reported the credit costs $300 million annually, making up less than 0.01 percent of the federal budget.

I am relieved Republicans recognized the inconsistency in making adoption less possible while planning to double the estate tax and then remove it completely by 2023, a change that would have largely favored the wealthy.

I am relieved the government will actually save money in the long run when kids are adopted into families and do not have to be provided for by the foster care system.

But my primary relief is that this change signals an acknowledgement that helping orphans is not simply another policy issue. If it was, then we would have been close to losing our humanity, and it is orphans who would have suffered. The sum total of every inheritance, real estate and income tax from here until eternity is still worthless compared to the priceless soul of an innocent child.

Our country should be discerning with its finances, but providing for orphans will always be a moral issue, not a practical one. Certain actions, such as protecting and caring for the vulnerable, should be made, no matter the cost.

The number of orphans in the United States is rising steadily as over 111,000 children were reported in the 2015 Adoption and Foster Care Statics released by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Decreasing this number would have been nearly impossible without the tax credit, as adopting a child is an expensive, exhausting process, and many families that desire to provide a good home would have found adoption to be unaffordable.

Proper checks should always be done to ensure each home would be able to provide the care and environment necessary, but, overall, we should continue to make it more feasible to adopt kids, not harder.

Moving forward, I think we should use this moment to reestablish our priorities when it comes to helping orphans. There is much relating to this issue I do not understand. Even so, I believe getting orphans into healthy families where they can be loved should always take priority over hoping a better economy will solve all of our country’s problems.

Being pro-life means being pro-adoption. Considering that, I am glad Republicans are not only fighting to protect innocent lives in the womb, but have made sure to not abandon those innocent lives, even if they were not born into a caring family.

While I am grateful the tax credit was kept, Christians, should be concerned it was ever considered for removal in the first place. We must remember that true religion is caring for the orphan and the widow in their affliction, not bringing about economic growth.

God’s adoption of Christians into his family has never been in question. Similarly, our commitment to fighting for orphans should never be in question either.

If Republicans truly want to make America great again, then they must continue to fight to make the family unit a priority again.