‘Save MO Babies’ bill would create state division to coordinate services and an adoption registry; sponsors and witnesses face privacy and fiscal questions

Representative Amato presented House Bill 807, labeled the 'Save MO Babies Act,' proposing a new Division of Maternal and Child Resources to coordinate services for expectant parents and to facilitate adoptions through a voluntary registry.

Sponsor Rep. Amato said he asked adoption attorneys to draft a plan to make adoption faster and less costly and that the proposal would coordinate resources for expectant mothers who wish to place children for adoption and help match those mothers with vetted prospective adoptive parents.

Gerard Harms, an attorney who helped draft the bill, testified in favor and described the registry as voluntary and intended to match mothers who choose adoption with screened prospective adoptive parents. Harms said the division would be required to comply with state and federal privacy laws, including HIPAA, and compared part of the idea to the existing Missouri Heart Gallery (the state’s photo listing of children in foster care). He told the committee the proposal is not meant to replace private adoption agencies but to reduce…