New Jersey Update: Christie Will Conditionally Veto; Will Offer "Compromise"

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According to New Jersey ACLU Director Deborah Jacobs, Gov. Chris Christie is conditionally vetoing He reportedly has created a hybrid bill that is somewhere between the bad deform S799/A1399(Vitale) bill and the badder adoptoin indusry A3672 (Quigley) bill. Contents of Christie’s compromise won’t be known until tomorrow. This was just what I was afraid of. The nightmare continues. I believe everyone in involved in this battle just want it over with It won’t be. More information when released.

Another "Legalized" Illegal Baby Dump in Florida

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Short comment today. Tuesday’s Miami Herald published the area’s latest baby dump story, Newborn girl left at Coral Springs. (my emphasis) Several firefighters were in the Coral Springs fire station Monday night when a baby’s cry summoned them outside where they found a newborn girl. “She was wrapped in some T-shirts,” said Mike Moser, spokesman for Coral Springs Fire Department. “The child still had the umbilical cord and some of the placenta attached.” Firefighters took the baby to Northwest Medical Center where doctors examined her. She was in good condition. Then, she was taken to Safe Haven for Newborns, a state organization that works closely with private adoption agencies, Moser said…. where she was, (I say) neutralized, homogenized, and statisticalized into the “safe haven” system, never more to be seen or heard. Sorry folks, this is not a ‘safe haven” case. A legal dump requires that an infant to be handed over in person, not left in a basket, or box, or dropped in the grass like an old sock. The baby was left unattended outside a fire station. But why quibble with legalities? Apparently, the State of Florida treats illegal abandonment as a legal “safe surrender” abandonment, to cook Continue Reading →

Rhode Island: Bastard Nation Action Alert–Support S 478 Sub A and age reduction now! Make RI #7

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PLEASE FORWARD FREELY BASTARD NATION ACTION ALERT RHODE ISLAND S 478 Sub A Rhode Island Adoptees Need Your Help Today! Vote scheduled for Wednesday, June 22, 2011 Tell the Rhode Island Senate to support HB S478 Sub A Make Rhode Island #7 HB 478 Sub A, a bill to allow any adoptee 30 years or older to obtain a copy of that person’s original birth certificate with no conditions or restrictions is scheduled for a Senate Floor vote Wednesday June 22. Also scheduled, is the introduction of amendment to lower the age from 30. Read bill here. HISTORYHB 478 Sub A is an amended version of the earlier S 478, which included a disclosure veto. That bill also had provisions that limited original birth certificate (OBC) access to adult adoptees born after Jan. 1, 2012, or to those who are 40 years or older after the effective date of the bill. None of those provisions restored the right of OBC access guaranteed until 1944, for all Rhode Island adoptees. Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin supported this bad bill, and took a lot of heat after she told the Providence Journal she wanted to limit OBC access to older adoptees because Continue Reading →

Rhode Island: Bastard Nation Letter to RI Senate in support of S478 Sub A and age reduction

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Dear Senator: Bastard Nation, the Adoptee Rights Organization, the largest adoptee civil rights organization in North America, conditionally supports Rhode Island S 478 Sub A. Bastard Nation is happy that S 478 Sub A is clean, bill that makes the OBC available to all Rhode Island adoptees without restrictions. We do not, however , support the age qualification, which limits access to adoptees 30 years of age and older. We believe that adopted adults should be treated the same under law as the not-adopted. We, therefore, urge the Senate to extend access to all adoptees when they reach the age of majority. The age of majority is defined as “adulthood in the eyes of the law.” After reaching majority, a person is permitted to vote, make a valid will, enter into binding contracts, marry, enlist in the military, and purchase alcohol. Also, parents may stop making child support payments when a child reaches the age of majority. In most states, including Rhode Island, the age of majority is 18, but this varies depending on the activity. In no state does age of majority exceed the age of 21. Rhode Island Code: § 15-12-1: Persons of full age. – (a) Notwithstanding Continue Reading →

Rhode Island: My Letter to the Providence Journal Published Today

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Below is my letter published today in the Providence Journal regarding S478 Sub A. Note that the first commenter brought up abortion. (what else is new?) Please go to the link and comment. Rhode Island adoptees need our help today. The vote is Wednesday. An action alert will be posted shortly. Thanks. Marley E. Greiner: Adoptees are owed thisJun 20, 2011 We urge the passage of Rhode Senate bill S478 Sub A, which would restore the right of all Rhode Island adoptees to access their own pre-adoptive original birth certificates (OBCs). We cannot, however, support limiting that access to adoptees age 30 and above. We urge the Senate to extend access to all adoptees when they reach the age of majority. The age of majority is defined as “adulthood in the eyes of the law.” At majority, a person is permitted to vote, make a valid will, enter into binding contracts, marry, enlist in the military and buy alcohol. In most states, including Rhode Island, the age of majority is 18. In no state does majority exceed 21. The not-adopted of Rhode Island are not required by statute to be 30 years of age to access their own birth certificates. Continue Reading →

Isaac Jonathan Dykstra Update

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I’m starting to catch up on some old stories I neglected over the last few months. This is one of them. This is cross-posted from my Russian blog Nikto Ne Zabyt — Nichto Ne Zabyto Over a year ago I reported that Brian Dykstra, charged with 2nd degree murder in the death of his adopted Russian son, Issac Jonathan Dykstra, 21 months, had waived his right to a speedy trial. He wasn’t joking. According to May 13, 2011 DesMoines Register, Dykstra’s trial, scheduled to begin May 23, has once again been postponed. (Trial delayed for former Iowa City man charged in infant death) On May 5, 2010, just days before his trial was to begin last time, (after at least one earlier postponement), the prosecution and defense filed a joint motion requesting a new trial date due to the complexity of the case. According to their motion, more than 130 witnesses may be called. No reason for the latest delay has been given, and no new trial date set. Isaac died on August 14, 2005 the day after he was admitted to the hospital with severe brain injuries. Brian Dykstra, however, was not charged until August 7, 2008. Dykstra remains Continue Reading →

Rhode Island S 478 Sub A: Bastard Nation Statement of Support

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Bastard Nation, the Adoptee Rights Organization conditionally supports Rhode Island S 478 Sub A. This bill is an amended version of the earlier S 478, which included a disclosure veto. The bill also had provisions that limited original birth certificate (OBC) access to adult adoptees born after Jan. 1, 2012, or to those who are 40 years or older after the effective date of the bill. None of those provisions restored the right of OBC access guaranteed until 1944, for all Rhode Island adoptees. Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin, whose sister has two adopted children, and supported this bad bill, took a lot of heat after she told the Providence Journal she wanted to limit OBC access to older adoptees because “I want them to be able to find their records in an appropriate and meaningful kind of way, not because they want to get back at their adoptive parents.” After heavy public and private criticism from the Rhode Island adoption community and reformers, Goodwin backtracked, the prospective provision and vetoes were removed and the age limit reduced to 30. On Wednesday the bill passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously with a Do Pass recommendation to the Continue Reading →

BUSTED: Adoptive Parents Speak

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NOTE: Formating is off a little due to the transfer from Blogger to WordPress. The other day, someone on the Adoption News and Events Facebook page found a interesting blog, Adoptive Parents Speak. No, it’s not one of those warm and cuddly aparent gagfests about Biff, Buffy and their pony in the suburbs waiting for a child. This is a cut-and-paste job of actual pap and adopter comments taken from forums, blogs, and websites. We’ve all run across these kinds of comments (and worse) while on our (WARNING: adoption industry term ahead) “adoption journey.” A pap, on alt.adoption who actually became a good friend after she got off Clomid, once declared unashamedly that she had “a Constitutional right to a baby.”Another alt.adoption regular liked to explain how adoptees tend to suffer from compulsion disorders since their “birthparemts” had a compulsion to take their pants off outside the bounds of holy matrimony–unlike chaste paps and adopters. Reading these comments individually from people you know, is, however, quite different from reading them in aggregate from people you don’t know. Obviously, the ‘net has incumbered people’s self-protection, privacy, and skills of logic–not to mention etiquette. Even the most venal adoption agent at Little Continue Reading →

In memory of Sam "Butch" Reese

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My brother Butch died on Wednesday. I never met him, so there is not much I can say here. I know that he spent the last few years of his life in pain and sickness. He is now at peace. Butch is survived by his wife Margaret; son Jack and his wife Jennifer Doolan Reese; brother, John Jennings Reese; nieces Crystal Reese and Jasmine Reese-Claybrooks, nephews, Abe Reese, Aaron Reese, Jahmal Reese, Markus Jennings Reese; and grandchildren whose names I don’t know. RIP MY BROTHERS Robert Jennings Reese, April 8, 1953 – January 1, 2009 Mark Jennings Reese, October 19, 1955 – March 22, 2009 Sam “Butch” Reese September 14, 1946-June 7, 2011