The Adoption Dialogue Invites National Conversation Among Pro-Choice Activists and Providers
August 14, 2007 | Contact Grayson Dempsey, 503.317.6866
Portland, OR – Backline - a nonprofit organization promoting conversation around all aspects of pregnancy, parenting, abortion and adoption - announced today that it will co-host the national Adoption Dialogue with Open Adoption & Family Services, a leading pro-choice adoption agency based in the Pacific Northwest.
The Adoption Dialogue is an event open to pro-choice activists and healthcare providers interested in talking about adoption with women making decisions about pregnancy as well as with colleagues and policymakers. Beyond offering training and information, the event will be a safe space to explore individual questions around adoption and the historic lack of connection between the abortion-rights and adoption-rights worlds.
The event will be facilitated by Backline President Grayson Dempsey, and will feature keynote speaker Dan Savage, nationally-syndicated columnist and author of The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant.
“Women faced with a choice about pregnancy need access to information about all of their options,” states Grayson Dempsey. “Adoption is an issue that is nearly as stigmatized as abortion, and as a result, many well-intentioned healthcare providers, counselors and activists are hesitant to talk about it.”
Backline oversees a national toll-free Talk Line that serves women and their loved ones facing decisions about pregnancy, parenting, abortion and adoption. Dempsey says that women who call Backline may be too far along in their pregnancy to access abortion, or may feel that neither abortion nor parenting is a viable choice but have no information and no one to talk to about the issues surrounding adoption. In many places, the only resources available to women thinking about adoption are agencies with a strong pro-life agenda, and they may criticize women for having considered abortion as a first alternative or work primarily to convince women of a political position. The Adoption Dialogue will support participants in exploring their own values around adoption and creating a plan of action that will support pregnancy, parenting, abortion and adoption at the individual, social and political level as part of the larger Reproductive Justice movement.
To register for the Adoption Dialogue, or to find out more about Backline, visit http://www.yourbackline.org.
Contact: Grayson Dempsey
Phone: 503.317.6866
Email: grayson@yourbackline.org