BASTARD NATION ACTION ALERT MISSOURI HB 509 PLEASE FORWARD FREELY! ATTENTION ALL ADOPTEES WHO LIVE OR WERE BORN IN MISSOURI Last week the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on HB 509 which restores the right of Missouri adoptees to access their original birth certificates. The Committee will probably vote on the bill on April 10, 2007. The bill permits any person adopted in the state, 18 years or older, to access their original birth certificate upon request. This is a clean bill with no restrictions. Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization supports the bill. HB 509 can be found at http://www.house.mo.gov/bills071/biltxt/intro/HB0509I.htm The relevant part of the bill reads: Upon receipt of a written application to the state registrar, any adopted person eighteen years of age or older born in the state of Missouri shall be issued a certified copy of his or her unaltered, original, and unamended certificate of birth in the custody of the state registrar, with procedures, filing fees, and waiting periods identical to those imposed upon nonadopted citizens of the state of Missouri. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as violating the provisions of section 453.121, RSMo. If you have a Missouri connection please contact the Continue Reading →

Sunday afternoon. Bored. Too early for a nap? The BBC-America Benny Hill marathon making you edgy? Worried about what to do with that secret pesky baby you’ve been hiding in your over-sized sweats since that Fourth of July whiz-bang in the backseat? Abortion too late? Adoption too difficult? Then you should consider a drop-off at your nearby No Shame No Blame No Name Safe Haven station. What’s that? You’ve never heard of this new and exciting option the government has created for nice people just like you so you won’t have to trouble yourself setting up an ethical adoption plan for that “unwanted baby? Sit back and relax. Fix a cup of lemon camomille. Then, take a few minutes to enjoy this little Safe Haven PSA Video Fest and learn all about your “safe haven” choice. These instructional videos are fun. They’re entertaining. They’ll make your heart feel as warm as the heart of a pasole pig at the Olympics of Competitive Eating. And at the end of our little festival you’ll know just what to do. We’ll start with an overview of the “safe haven” program with a nationally distributed PSA narrated by Emmy award winning actress Patricia Heaton. Continue Reading →

MASSACHUSETTS BLACKLISTS ADOPTED ADULTS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE_____________________________________________________________________________ March 22, 2007 If the legislature has its way, some Massachusetts adoptees may soon find themselves on a state-established blacklist that bars them from accessing their own original birth certificates because of the date of their birth. Other adoptees, however, born, during the “correct” timeframes will be allowed access. Blacklist Bills SB 63 and SB 77, passed unanimously on March 21, by the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Disabled Persons create two categories of adoptees. Adoptees born on or before July 17, 1974 and on or after January 1, 2008 will be allowed unconditional access to their original birth certificates now sealed by the state. Adoptees born between those dates, will continue to be governed by current Massachusetts adoption law and forced to get a court order to get their own birth certificates. If they’re lucky. Adoptees and their families should look their legislators in the eye and ask the very important question: what makes one adoptee worthy and another one not? And tell them SB 63 and SB 77 are not acceptable–for anybody. SB 63 and SB 77 turn back the clock. While other states, including neighboring New Hampshire, move Continue Reading →

If we weren’t already aware of the moral bankruptcy of Massachusetts politicians, we certainly are now. According to a phone conversation I had Thursday with a clerk at the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, Committee, the committee in executive session, voted unanimously on Wednesday a DO PASS on SB 63 and SB 77. Translation: Massachusetts adoptees are screwed. For late comers, this is what these bills will do to Massachusetts adoptees: (1) Adopted persons 18 years of age or older born in the commonwealth on or before July 17, 1974 or on or after January 1, 2008 or an adoptive parent of an adopted person under 18 years of age and born in the commonwealth on or after January 1, 2008 will be “allowed” unrestricted access to the original birth certificate. (2) Adopted persons born in Massachusetts between those dates will not be “allowed” access their original birth certificates without a court order as under current law. So, if you’re a Massachusetts adoptee between the ages of 0 (not born yet this year) and 34 forget it! You’re a non-person as far as politicians are concerned. Ironically, less than two years ago, many of these same Continue Reading →

Bastard Nation submitted testimony opposed to SB 63, SB 77, and HB 2190 all of which codify a 34-year black hole for those adopted in Massachusetts, barring them from automatic unrestricted access to their own birth certificates. Below is BN’s SB 63 testimony. Since the other bills are basically the same, testimony opposing those bills is identical and won’t be posted here. Links to all the bills can be found in the Bastard Nation Action Alert posted here on March 17 (below) SUBMITTED TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION TO SB 63: An Act Further Regulating Access to Birth Certificates (original birth certificate access to certain adoptees) Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization, urges you to vote NO on SB 63. Instead of treating all Massachusetts adopted adults equally, SB 63 creates two classes: one with privilege, one without, based on date of birth. According to SB 63: (1) Adopted persons 18 years of age or older born in the commonwealth on or before July 17, 1974 or on or after January 1, 2008 or an adoptive parent of an adopted person under 18 years of age and born in the commonwealth on or after January 1, 2008 will be “allowed” unrestricted access Continue Reading →

BULLET POINTS WHY SB 63, SB 77, AND HB 2190 ARE BAD LEGISLATION SB 63, SB 77, and HB 2190 grossly discriminate against adoptees. The bills create an arbitrary state-constructed blacklist, based solely on date of birth, prohibiting certain adopted persons from accessing their own original birth certificates. Those born before or after the blacklisted are permitted unrestricted access. Any of these bills, if passed, will be open to legal challenge from the blacklisted who want what is rightfully theirs: their birth certificates. *SB 63, SB 77, and HB 2190 revive and legitimize debunked spurious claims of “implied promises of confidentiality” to birthparents. Such promises are urban myths. In 30 years of birth record access legislation, no document has been presented to support “promises of confidentiality,” “privacy” or “anonymity”– implied or otherwise.*B 63, SB 77, and HB 2190 turn back the clock. In the last eight years Oregon, Alabama and New Hampshire have restored to adopted persons, the right to access their own original birth certificates. This year other states are moving toward full restoration of rights, for all adoptees. *SB 63, SB 77, and HB 2190 go against the tide of rights restoration. They stigmatize the blacklisted forcing them Continue Reading →

MARTA (Massachusetts Access Right to All) submitted testimony opposed to SB 63, SB 77, HB 2190 all of which codify a 34-year black hole for those adopted in Massachusetts, barring them from automatic unrestricted access to their own birth certificates. Below is MARTA’s SB 63 testimony. Since the other bills are basically the same, testimony opposing those bills is identical and won’t be posted here. Links to all the bills can be found in the Bastard Nation Action Alert posted here on March 17 (below) SUBMITTED TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION TO SB 63:An Act Further Regulating Access to Birth Certificates(original birth certificate access to certain adoptees) MASSACHUSETTS ACCESS RIGHTS TO ALL (MARTA) Massachusetts Access Rights to All (MARTA) asks you to vote NO on SB 63. This bill creates an unfair, discriminatory tiered system in which adopted persons born in Massachusetts on or before July 17, 1974 and on or after January 1, 2008 can receive copies of their unaltered original birth certificates. Adoptees born between those dates will not be allowed to receive their original birth certificates except by petitioning the court. This makes no sense to us. Does it make sense to you? MARTA believes that tiered rights systems Continue Reading →

BASTARD NATION ACTION ALERT URGENT ACTION NEED MASSACHUSETTS TRIPLE THREATTHROW OUT SB 63, SB 77, and HB 2190 On March 21, 2007, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Disabilities will hold a hearing on two new access bills, SB 63, sponsored by Senator Karen Spilka, SB 77, sponsored by Senator Susan B. Fargo. A third bill, HB 2190, is identical to the others and it may be heard on March 21st as well. Please contact the committee members immediately (see Contact Information below). Urge them to completely do away with this bill. VOTE NO. Don’t even amend it – just throw it away! Neither bill is fixable with any amendments because the very core of the bills is ROTTEN. These bills are dangerous to the cause of unsealing original birth records all over North America. The bills in a nutshell: 1) THE BLACK HOLE The Black Hole is the provision in all three bills which PREVENTS ADOPTED ADULTS BORN BETWEEN JULY 14, 1974 AND JANUARY 1, 2008, FROM RECEIVING THEIR ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATES. All adoptees who fall into this Black Hole will continue to be treated under Massachusetts’ old sealed records law. Those adoptees born before 1974 or Continue Reading →