We are happy to announce that Concerned United Birthparents (CUB) has joined the official opposition to Florida’s ominous and restrictive HB357/SB576. On November 16 it signed on to the Joint Statement of Opposition addressed to the bills’ sponsors and appropriate committee members.
Here is CUB ‘s policy statement on records access:
CUB supports adult adoptees’ right to access their records, without restrictions or qualifications. Knowing one’s identity is a civil right which is being consistently abused by the practice of sealed records adoptions. All human beings have the right to know their original identity which includes their genetic roots, their medical history and biological history.
CUB supports the unrestricted access of adopted people to their original birth records. Access to the truth about one’s identity and origins is a fundamental human right.
The myth of confidentiality is often used to oppose open records, but birthparents were never promised such secrecy and do not want it. The majority of birthparents want to be reunited with their children, but in the end, this is not relevant. Equal access to vital statistics and court files and the wish to search for one’s birthparents are completely separate issues. An adoptee’s decision to search is independent of the right to obtain vital statistics and court files that concern himself or herself.
In today’s environment, most adoptions are identified. Since everyone involved in the adoption knows the facts about who the birthparents are, there is no reason for the state to conceal the truth in perpetuity.
Globally, many countries have chosen not to engage in the falsification and sealing of birth certificates. The practice of falsifying birth certificates did not begin until the 1930s in America. America must join the ranks of civilized nations and end this antiquated remnant of a shame-based culture. As of March 2015, eighteen states have chosen to end this practice by enacting laws that grant partial or full access.
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This makes 25 national, state, and international organizations opposed and 0 (zero) organizations that support the bill unless you count the murky anonymously-operated Occupy Florida FB “group” that claims legislators waant to hear “rights” connected to adoptees. Occupy, instead, spouts nonsense that the sealing of OBCs and other adoption records are just a matter of “policy” not “rights.” In a November 17, 2017 FB post* Occupy Florida got even sillier:
But trying to kill a bill because it has a provision or two some wish was different is another silly, knee jerk reaction that reflects a lack of understanding of the political process and the multiple factors involved.
Apparently, the fact that under these bills some Florida adoptees would not get their OBCs at all and others would have to wait 40 years after finalization (or the age of 58!) to receive them is just a trivial concern. An ignorant kneejerk reaction by political simpletons who…gee, in real life, have hundreds of years of adoptee rights and adoption reform experience behind them, and have actually gotten clean bills passed that have restored rights to all, not policy and favors for some. What history Occupy has, of course is a mystery.
Not surprisingly, anyone who even politely disagrees or questions this flummery is banned from commenting or even blocked from the page faster than the babysitter’s boyfriend when the car pulls up. I have more to write about this in other posts.
Here is a current list of opposition signatories.
Adoptee Rights Law Center
Adoptee Rights Campaign
Adoption Rights Alliance (Ireland)/The Philomena Project
ALARM Network
American Adoption Congress
Banished Babies from Ireland
Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
The Donaldson Adoption Institute
The National Center on Adoption and Permanency
Concerned United Birthparents (CUB)
Equality4Adoptees (Texas)
The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
Trace L. Hentz, author, Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Projects series
Access Rhode Island
California Open
Canada Open
Equal Access Oklahoma
Indiana Open
Michigan Open
Minnesota Coalition for Adoption Reform
Missouri Open
Nevada Open
Florida Adoption Initiative for Reform (FAIR)
New York State Adoptee Equality (NYSAE)
Post-Adoption Center for Education and Resources (PACER)
If your organization wants to sign on to the letter please contact Gregory Luce at [email protected] or me at marleyoas@gmail com and we will add you.
*my computer won’t let me make screen shots so this is a cut and paste.