Just when we thought the 2019 legislative season was over, Wisconsin lawmakers decided to move on AB579 and SB,521 a set of really bad “adoption information bills”
If passed, instead of receiving their Original Birth Certificates upon request, Lucky Bastards will receive a copy of their Report of Adoption.form, The form is routinely sent by the court to the Wisconsin Office of Vital Statistics after an adoption is finalized, to request the ABC be issued–if the adoptive parents have requested a new certificate. It includes the names of the child, birth and adoptive parents and other OBC information.
This sounds awfully similar to that piece of paper that Pennsylvania is trying to pass off as an OBC.
The companion bills were introduced on October 25, 2019. A hearing for SB521 is scheduled for December 4. Passed bills must be received by the Governor by December 5, so this bill will obviously be held over to 2020 unless something drastic happens.
Judging from the response on the Adoptee Equal RIghts Task Force Wisconsin Facebook page, most members there either haven’t read the bill or don’t care. One supporter refers ahistorically to the bill as “a compromise step toward equality.”
Really? I have a bridge for you.
There is some confusing language in the bill I want to clarify, so I won’t give any further thoughts on it.today. No matter, the bill does nothing to further the adoptee right to our birth records. It still denies us access to our birth certificates. We still remain legally second class.
AB579/SB521 is a reunion-only bill. A really stupid bill. If lawmakers are so willing to release the Report of Adoption, why not the OBC? What’s the big deal? And why is anyone supporting this muddle?
I will be posting more about SB521 and its hearing in a couple of days.