Baby O’s case is at the center of a lawsuit to bring down the Indian Child Welfare Act. But far from proving ICWA should be overturned, it shows why the law is necessary.
The Supreme Court will hear cases from three families challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act. Under the ICWA, decisions about adoption which in other circumstances are made by state courts or governments that consider the best interests of the child are shifted into tribal hands when an American Indian child is involved.