As National Adoption Month gets underway, concerned citizens are getting their first opportunity to make adoption easier and more affordable for prospective parents by voicing their opposition to the elimination of a lucrative tax credit proposed in the new tax reform plan.

CNA/EWTN News is reporting on the proposal which would eliminate the $13,570 maximum tax credit for eligible adopted children. This credit significantly helps parents to meet the financial costs of adopting a child which can cost up to $30,000.

Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (R-Ne) told CNA that adoption assistance sends the message that the government is willing to help families.

“The adoption tax credit is a clear and legitimate statement by the government that we have a preferential policy for life,” Fortenberry said. “We are vigorously making the case of its inclusion in the tax package. This is a real time, real life policy that works.”

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention, agrees and tweeted: "The adoption tax credit is not just one more policy issue. Vulnerable children ought to be a priority for us all."

As the ERLC reports, over 60 percent of adopted children are adopted by middle- and lower-income taxpayers, and almost half of children adopted from foster care live in families with household incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

"Just as important to consider is what adoption saves the government," the ERLC adds. "The government saves between $65,000 and $127,000 for every child who is adopted rather than placed in long-term foster care."

However, Rep. Kevin Brady, a Republican from Texas and the chief writer of House Republicans' tax overhaul plan, defended the decision, saying, "This credit is not working."

Brady, who is an adoptive parent himself, told the Washington Post that the overall effect of the Republican's tax plan would be "giving families more in their paychecks, especially the middle-class families that are crucial for adoption," arguing that the child tax credit would grow by $600 to $1,600 per child, aiding families whether they adopt or not.

"I think this is a better approach for the vast majority of Americans who are left behind, giving families more in their paychecks, especially the middle-class families that are crucial for adoption," Brady said.

David French, senior writer for National Review, disagrees and says giving adoptive families this tax credit doesn’t cost the government that much money.

"According to the Tax Policy Center, the so-called 'tax expenditure' (forgone revenue) from the credit totaled $300 million in 2015 — but it makes adoption affordable for thousands of families."

He added, "I know. It helped my family immensely when we adopted. It's helped other adoptive families we know. It can be the financial difference that makes adoption possible."

Even though he sees “nothing malicious” about the proposed elimination of the tax credit, “As things now stand, though, this Republican Congress may well end up funding Planned Parenthood while abolishing the adoption tax credit. That’s intolerable.”

Contact your representative today and ask him/her to include the adoption tax credit back in the tax reform plan!