I am outraged by Supreme Court case Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. As a lifelong civil rights activist, I remember the struggle to pass the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in 1978 and the reasons it is still so badly needed to protect our families and Native American cultures.

Congress passed ICWA in response to the alarmingly high number of children being removed from their homes. According to the First Nations Orphan Association, between 1941 and 1978, 68% of all Indian children were removed from their homes and placed in orphanages or white foster homes, or adopted into non-Indian families. Studies have shown that Native American children placed in non-­Native homes experience high rates of depression and suicide, as well as problems with development and identity formation. Removing Native children from their families and communities is severely traumatic and interrupts the transmission of culture from generation to generation.

The reasons ICWA was passed 35 years ago are just as strong and relevant today. Since its passage, ICWA has afforded protections for Indian children to stay in Indian families and tribal communities.