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The Indiana Senate has given its approval to a bill that would provide guardians ad litem to parents in adoption cases who have mental disabilities.
Senate Bill 16 received unanimous support from the Senate in a Thursday vote.
The bill would establish a two-year GAL pilot program in LaPorte, Marshall and Starke counties. It would require a GAL in an adoption proceeding if the parent of a child has an intellectual disability and is subject to guardianship.
The bill’s author, Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, noted that when a person has an intellectual disability severe enough to need a guardian and that person becomes pregnant, it is a crime because the person was not able to consent.
“In many cases these moms don’t want to say who they had the relationship with that resulted in a pregnancy, and in many cases, it could be a family member or the family member that is their guardian,” Bohacek said. “Perhaps a GAL would be able to get that information out.”
Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie, is the House sponsor for SB 16.
The bill has not yet been assigned to a House committee.
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