HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAC CONFERENCE, CLEVELAND, PART 1

I’m really not going to write at length about the AAC conference in Cleveland. Conferences wear me out, and I’m tired tonight, even though I haven’t done anything since 5:00 PM but have a Delmonico steak dinner at Otto Moser’s Cafe over on Euclid. I think it’s all the people and all the sitting and talking and listening and more talking and more listening. Is this a normal way to live? It’s now nearly midnight. I had ‘net connection problems and just now get on line after 2 hours of fiddling around. I did, though, want to make a few short remarks about the presentations I attended. DOROTHY ROBERTS KICKS ASS! I first ran into Prof. Roberts at the ASAIK (now the Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture) Conference at Pitt a couple years ago. She blew me away then and continues to do so. Roberts is the author of Shattered Bonds: the Color of Child Welfare and Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction and the Meaning of Liberty. The topic of her keynote address was Why Ending Racial Disproportionaly Will Transform Child Welfare. Prof. Roberts says some very important things about how race runs the child welfare Continue Reading →

SOMETIMES WORDS….

…aren’t necessary. This is taken from CARE’s action alert for SB 372. (emphasis mine). AB 372 will give hundreds of thousands of adult citizens adopted in California (who currently have no hope of ever having their own original birth record) an opportunity to know their original identity. Many of these citizens will die out of the system in the coming years. To oppose this legislation is to literally oppose their ability to have this record at any time in the foreseeable future. The opposition to this legislation is coming from many people who have no skin in the game. Adoptees from other states, birthparents from other states, adoptees who already have their records, are not the ones who should be influencing this decision. Does this mean CARE is ready to boot its leaders and out-of-state advisory committee members?

CALIFORNIA: AB 372 HEARING DATE CHANGED

This just in from CalOpen: Leg Counsel announced by e-mail at 4:29 this morning that the hearing date has been moved forward to Monday the 27th. Tuesday, April 21st, 2009Hearing Date Moved forward to Monday, April 27th.http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_0351-0400/ab_372_bill_20090420_status.html I telephoned the Judiciary Committee and learned: – Confirmed Hearing date of Monday, April 27th– Commencement of hearing upon adjournment of floor session.(Time to be announced on Thursday the 23rd, at floor session, probably noon)– Confirmed TODAY’s 5 PM deadline for submission of letters into the official analysis still holds, regardless of the premature hearing date.

ACTION ALERT – DEFEAT CALIFORNIA AB 372

We are running on a very tight schedule here, so I’m posting CalOpen’s AB 372 Action Alert here instead of writing up a separate one for BN. Bastard Nation is submitting it’s testimony later today. NOTE: As of this posting, the official Ma amendments are not available. Help us defeat this abomination! * * * CALIFORNIA OPEN ACTION ALERT * * * PLEASE DISTRIBUTE FREELY Issued April 20, 2009 URGE THE CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATURE ASSEMBLY JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TO VOTE NO ON AB 372 DEADLINE FOR YOUR LETTER TO BECOME A PART OF THE RECORD: 5 PM PST TUESDAY, APRIL 21st, 2009 (Even if you miss the deadline, please continue to send your letters and e-mails.) On Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 AB 372 will come before the California State Legislature’s Assembly Judiciary Committee. Assembly Bill 372 would require State Notification to birthparents of an adoptee’s request for their record and the birthparent’s Consent to Disclosure and Release of the Original Birth Certificate to the adoptee. Until the amendments are viewed, it is not known who would fund the notification. Perhaps that would be the responsibility of the adoptee making request. WE MUST ACT NOW TO DEFEAT AB 372 AND LEAVE CLEAR Continue Reading →

CARE’S LATEST GAFF: "WHEN I USE A WORD…IT MEANS JUST WHAT I CHOOSE IT TO MEAN…."

BE SURE TO TAKE THE TWO AB 372 POLLS AT THE RIGHT! When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ `The question is,’ said Alice, `whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ `The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master — that’s all. Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass As many of us suspected, CARE continues to support AB 372. In CARE NuSpeak, gutting rights “language” now means restoring rights later.Earlier today CARE’s “volunteer” Executive Director, professional lobbyist Stephanie Williams wrote to BB Church about the current status of AB 372 and its anti-adoptee language. Williams was responding to an email from BB asking if CARE would continue to support the bill now that their sponsor, Asmb. Fiona Ma, has issued a memo with a list of amendments to gut it. (see 2 previous entries here). Since Williams sent a copy of her reply to Jean Strauss and Strauss forwarded the post to CUB president Margy McMorrow with the message to feel free to pass it along, (which Margy did on the CUB list) this email Continue Reading →

BASTARDETTE POLL: WILL CARE PULL AB 372?

Today California Asmb. Fiona Ma announced amendments she proposes to AB 372, the alleged records access bill pushed by the alleged adoptee rights group California Adoption Reform Effort. According to Asmb. Ma’s memo, these are the changes she plans to offer. Note that these amendments include a blanket default disclosure veto plus a mandatory state-run “birthmother” track-down system. NuAB 372 will:-Amend the Health and Safety Code section 102705 to require the courts to release the original birth certificate contingent upon the finding of a serious medical condition requiring familiar information. -Starting Jan 1, 2010 and going backward, the state shall open the original unamended birth certificate in an “Informational Only Copy” form to an adult adoptee age 25 or older if all of the following conditions are met: 1 -A certified, return receipt letter is sent to the best-match address of the biological parent notifying them of the change in law and allowing them to keep their record confidential by signing an enclosed form and returning to the Department of Health. 2 -A period of six-months from the time of the biological mother receiving notice is given for them to respond with the opt-out notice. -Should the Department not receive Continue Reading →

CARE’S BRIDGE TO NOWHERE: NEW AB 372 AMENDMENTS RELEASED–DROPS ADOPTEES IN THE RIVER

This afternoon, Asmb. Fiona Ma issued a letter listing her new and improved amendments she’ll offer to the alleged records access AB 372 pimped by the California Adoption Reform Effort aka Adjunct Ma for Assembly Fundraisers. (see previous entry). The new bill form has not been printed yet so we can’t check it for accuracy. Asmb. Ma informs us however, that the new and improved AB 372 will include the following humiliations, insults, and assaults on bastard rights and autonomy. NuAB 372 will: -Amend the Health and Safety Code section 102705 to require the courts to release the original birth certificate contingent upon the finding of a serious medical condition requiring familiar information. -Starting Jan 1, 2010 and going backward, the state shall open the original unamended birth certificate in an “Informational Only Copy” form to an adult adoptee age 25 or older if all of the following conditions are met: 1 -A certified, return receipt letter is sent to the best-match address of the biological parent notifying them of the change in law and allowing them to keep their record confidential by signing an enclosed form and returning to the Department of Health. 2 -A period of six-months from Continue Reading →

PAYING TO PLAY IN CALIFORNIA

I’ve been tied up with some pretty time-consuming tasks lately and am way behind in my writing here. It is with great pleasure, however, that I take a moment to accept BB Church’s invitation to jump out of CARE’s “celebration” cake and skunk-juice our unworthy opponents. CARE, (California Adoption Reform Effort) you see, is now running a borderline pay-to-play scheme with AB 1372 sponsor Assb. Fiona Ma. BB Church, who has more street creds than aggregate CARE could get in 35 years of street walking, explains how this thinly disguised fundraiser, billed as a “celebration of the Honorable Assemblywoman Fiona Ma” operates: If you read it very carefully you’ll note that C.A.R.E. is not actually hosting this shindig, “individual members of the California Adoption Reform Effort” are. Note that C.A.R.E.’s name is highlighted. This gives the impression that this is a C.A.R.E. sponsored “celebration” although the actual text denies it… ( I used to do this sort of dodge all the time with endorsement lists, put somebody’s name and affiliation with an asterisk next to it, with a tiny note at the bottom informing people that the organization is noted for “identification purposes only”, ha!) Note that this “celebration” is Continue Reading →