Pro-life lawmaker urges GOP to save the adoption tax credit

WASHINGTON—Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., began pressuring GOP leaders Tuesday to put the adoption credit back into the Republican tax bill. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, released last week, would remove the one-time tax refund worth $13,570 to help families cover expensive adoption costs. The House Ways and Means Committee resumed its marathon tax bill mark-up Tuesday. During the weekly Republican conference meeting, Franks urged his colleagues to make sure the GOP isn’t responsible for making it harder for Americans to adopt children. “Republicans must not be guilty of funding Planned Parenthood while eliminating the adoption tax credit and then having to apologize for our noble and oft-repeated mantra of adoption, not abortion,” Franks said during the meeting, according to prepared remarks. He also circulated a letter he delivered to Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the committee’s chairman, asking him to find a way to include the tax credit in the bill’s final version. In 2015, nearly 64,000 families used the adoption tax credit. The Ways and Means Committee plans to finish its work on the bill this week.