BASTARD NATION ACTION ALERT! STOP ILLINOIS HB 4623! FULL ACCESS FOR ALL ADOPTEES!

BASTARD NATION: THE ADOPTEE RIGHTS ORGANIZATION
P.O. Box 1469
Edmond, OK

www.bastards.org

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE FREELY
ILLINOIS ACTION ALERT
URGE THE ILLINOIS HOUSE TO VOTE NO ON HB4623

HB 4623, sponsored by Representative Sara Feigenholtz, is a dangerous bill and must be voted down. Sometime during the month of April, the Illinois House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on HB4623. We do not know what day the bill will get to the House floor, so we must ACT IMMEDIATELY in order to let our voices be heard. {Please see easy Contact Information below}

IF PASSED INTO LAW, HB 4623 WOULD…
…..give birth parents 6 months after the bill is passed to file “Denial of Information” forms with the Adoption Registry. Any adoptee whose birth parent files a “Denial of Information” form will NOT receive an original birth certificate. This section includes a 6 month advertising campaign to let birthmothers know their choices.

…..define three different classes of adult adoptees, those born before 1946, those born between January 1, 1946 and January 2009, and all prospective adoptions.

…..give all prospective birth parents 21 years in which to file a Denial of Information Form. Current law requires them to file a denial within 6 months.

…..give birth parents 5 options that range from contact to anonymity to choose from.

…..permit redacting ( or whiting-out) an official document.

…..codify “anonymity” for the first time.

…..make all of the birth parent options go through the Illinois Adoption Registry where the concerns are related to searching rather than to civil rights.

…..allow for the possibility of adoptees receiving copies of birth certificates with birth parent names removed as well as the adoptee’s name.

…..grant access veto powers to birth parents who relinquished all legal rights to the adoptee as a child.

PLEASE E-MAIL, WRITE, CALL, or FAX THE MEMBERS OF THE ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IMMEDIATELY. TELL THEM THAT HB4623 IS A SERIOUSLY FLAWED BILL WHICH MUST BE VOTED DOWN SO THAT A TRUE ADOPTEE RIGHTS BILL CAN BE WRITTEN AND FILED IN ITS PLACE.

WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THE BILL NEEDS 70+ VOTES IN ORDER TO PASS OUT OF THE HOUSE. WE MUST PUT AN END TO IT RIGHT IN THE HOUSE WHERE IT BEGAN!

Background
HB 4623 began back in January as a shell bill purportedly to make changes to the IL CI system. On Monday, March 10th, Rep. Feigenholtz announced her new OBC search bill, HB 4623. On Tuesday, March 12, the shell bill was transformed into the new 77 page OBC search bill. On Wednesday, March 13th, the new bill went straight to the House Adoption Reform Committee, of which Rep. Feigenholtz just happens to be chair. That very same day, the committee voted 8-1 vote to pass the bill. The new 77 page bill was only put up on the IL website hours before the hearing so there was no time for interested parties to testify. No wonder the committee passed the bill; even they didn’t have time to read all 77 pages.

This bill has been rejected by many adoption reform coalitions, including Illinois Open.

The 77 page complete text of the bill is here

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES