In the wake of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision overturning Roe v. Wade on Friday, protests immediately broke out in front of the Supreme Court. Amid the signs condemning the decision, which no longer guarantees abortion access (and immediately led to the procedure being banned in several states), one couple’s sign proposing an alternative to abortion became a target for both memes and Photoshops.
On Friday, a couple in support of the Court’s decision held a sign that read, “We Will Adopt Your Baby.” Based on a reverse image search, the photo was first posted online by Noelle Fitchett on June 25, who called it “My favorite sign yesterday.”
Among the points brought up during oral arguments for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was that women had the option to give up babies for adoption shortly after their birth without punishment under safe haven laws as an alternative to abortion. Many adoptees have spoken publicly about how they resent being used as “political props,” and, citing a footnote in Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked draft opinion (that in turn cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), some saw the phrase “domestic supply of infants” as an indication that adoptees are viewed as a product, not people.
People using adoption over abortion as an argument tend to ignore how, for many, it’s not a viable alternative because adoption still involves having to go through the dangers and trauma of pregnancy and childbirth, both of which can result in death. According to the CDC, there are 23.8 deaths for every 100,000 live births in the U.S., which has the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income countries (and disproportionately affects Black women). Adoption can also be incredibly traumatic for adoptees.
Some wasted no time to highlight those hardships, along with the conditions that some adoptees might face after they are adopted.
Someone pointed out the irony of the couple, Sebastian Schuff and Neydy Casillas, holding a sign saying they’ll adopt your babies because they’re unable to adopt anyone. Schuff also posted a photo of himself and Casillas holding their anti-abortion signs outside of the Supreme Court on Instagram with the caption, “El aborto es vencible.” (“Abortion is beatable.”)
Others took Casillas’ sign as something else: A whiteboard that can be erased so that any message of the internet’s choosing can be added back in.
And then there were alternative suggestions for terrible adoptive parents from pop culture and real life.