Challenge to Florida adoption laws
Several Florida women are challenging the state's idiotic adoption laws, arguing that the laws violate their constitutional right to privacy. New statutes require birth mothers to track down and notify the birth father about adoption proceedings, in order to avoid situations where the birth father comes forward to challenge an adoption after the fact. When background searches don't work, the law requires the mother to place a newspaper ad detailing "her name, describe herself, name or describe the possible father(s) and list the date and the city or county of conception." A lawyer representing the plaintiffs says, "The adoption community is up in arms against this [law]. When women come into my office and find their whole lives have to be exposed in the newspaper, they are like, 'Forget it.' They can abort without consent, but they can't give the child an opportunity to live without humiliating themselves." (There's a Metafilter thread about this story.)
