Bill Description: Senate Bill 1050 would require those seeking to adopt a child to pay for legal and counseling services for the birth parents. 

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Does it give government any new, additional, or expanded power to prohibit, restrict, or regulate activities in the free market? Conversely, does it eliminate or reduce government intervention in the market?

Senate Bill 1050 would amend Section 18-1511, Idaho Code, to require prospective adoptive parents to provide the birth parents with "legal advice from an attorney of their [the birth parents] choosing and counseling services from a licensed counselor of their choosing at the cost of the prospective adoptive parents." The birth parents could choose to decline these benefits.

The provided counseling services "shall include at least three (3) pre-placement counseling sessions and at least six (6) post-placement counseling sessions."

There is nothing wrong with adoptive parents paying for certain costs incurred by birth parents. But those arrangements should be negotiated between the parties involved and not micromanaged by law.

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