A petition with 23,000 signatures calls on Congress to amend the Indian Child Welfare Act.

The law is making headlines due to Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, an ICWA case that was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court last week. Petition supporters say tribes shouldn't get to intervene in disputes involving Indian children.

“If there was an African-American Child Welfare Act, or an Asian Child Welfare Act, everybody would be making a fuss. But because it’s happening to Indian children, nobody cares," Ross Harp, who had an Indian foster child, told the Associated Press.

The Cherokee Nation intervened in the case after a tribal member's daughter was put up for adoption with his consent. Chrissi Nimmo, the tribe's assistant attorney general, said disputes can be avoided by complying with ICWA.

Get the Story:
Baby Veronica inspires petition to change ICWA (AP 4/22)
State of Miss., Choctaws want federal adoption act left intact (The Jackson Clarion-Ledger 4/22)

Oral Argument Transcript:
Adoptive Couple v. Cherokee Nation (April 16, 2013)

South Carolina Supreme Court Decision:
Adoptive Couple v. Cherokee Nation (July 26, 2012)

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Jacqueline Davis: An Indian family torn apart in South Carolina (4/16)
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