Tag Archives: adoptee rights

Why I Continue to Lobby by Carolyn Evaine Shaw

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What I am fighting for at this point is not for someone to go back in time and change everything for me. That is done. Whether you consider me a victim or a volunteer, it does not matter. I have given up all hope of having a better past. But here is another truth for you: I am compassionate enough to not want anyone else to have to go through the same horrible experiences. I am caring enough to not want anyone else to have to feel “less than”. I want there to not be a need for Bastard Nation (except as a place for us to make our morbid jokes). The way I approach wanting these changes is by educating people every chance I get about how adoptees are treated differently. But I also lobby for legislation that will force people to start thinking about us differently. I do not endorse legislation that helps perpetuate NASTY TRUTH by making it seem as if adoptees might be emotionally imbalanced or inclined to illegal acts – that means any legislation with a contact veto/authorization/preference. I. WILL. NOT.

HB 984 hurts ME by telling people that I might need someone else to decide for me if I should or should not contact my birthmother, whose name I already do not put out in public because I am not stupid and can tell if it is/isn’t a good idea. If you are adopted, HB 984 hurts YOU by telling people that you cannot decide how to handle a family relationship on your own. If it says that ANY adoptee past/present/future needs help making decisions on how to handle family relationships, then it hurts ALL adoptees. If anyone who does not know much about adoption reads that statute and decides that there must be some reason why it is needed – if that is the only information they get about adoptees – then we have failed to help our very own.

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Words Have Consequences: A Cease and Desist Letter from Bastard Nation Attorney Michael Zola

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Bastard Nation is a respected, national adoptee rights organization with a documented history of successfully advocating for the rights of adoptees. They have spent almost two decades serving the adoptee community and building a positive reputation. Bastard Nation has learned that you have engaged in spreading false, destructive, and defamatory rumors about them, including false allegations that they are a “front for adoption agencies seeking to keep records closed to adoptees”, and insinuations that they are funded by agencies or individuals who support the continuation of sealed records.

It is unlawful to engage in defamation of another’s character and reputation. Defamation consists of

(1) a statement that tends to injure reputation;
(2) communicated to another; and
(3) that the speaker knew or should have known was false.

Your defamatory statements involve repeated posts on Facebook and other social media, Facebook messages, emails, and conversations with others.

Accordingly, demand is hereby made that you (A) immediately cease and desist your unlawful defamation of Bastard Nation and (B) provide prompt written assurance within ten (10) days that you will cease and desist from further defamation of Bastard Nation’s character and reputation.

If you refuse or fail to comply with this cease and desist demand, Bastard Nation will have an actionable right to and will seek monetary damages and equitable relief as a consequence of any such further defamation.

Be advised that Bastard Nation has authorized this communication to you and that they intend to pursue all available legal remedies, including a judgment against each individual involved in any way for monetary damages, injunctive relief, and court costs and attorney’s fees.
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Bastardette’s Letter to the Texas Senate: HB 984 Vote No!

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The easy way out of this quandary would have been to amend the language of Sections B and C from “authorize” to “prefer.” This would have guaranteed the meaning of equal protection and equal treatment under law and maintain the integrity of adoptee civil rights.

Unfortunately, no such amendment was accepted. Instead, an amendment was added to the bill that places a limitation on the time frame (July 1, 2016) that a natural parent may change her or his mind mind or file a Contact Preference Form and a Medical History Form. After that date, it is in the discretion of the Registrar. Of further concern, for adoptions after July 1, 2016, it is an adoption agency, not the Registrar, that issues and collects the forms. No language in the bill provides the date for compliance and there is no oversight or penalty to an agency that fails to adhere to the law. I can think of no other state that has a CPF on the books that puts that kind of power into the hands of either the registrar or adoption agencies. Continue Reading →

URGENT: Bastard Nation Action Alert–Vote No on Texas HB 984

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HB 984 (Rep. Deshotel/Sen. Creighton) having cleared the Senate State Affairs Committee (6-0), comes now to Second Read on the Texas Senate Floor. While the bill language is clean regarding adoptee access to their own original birth certificate, the accompanying Contact Preference Form is in reality a Contact Veto.

Section 2 and Section 3 of the bill would provide a birthparent a new affirmative right to “authorize” or “not authorize” contact, by their adult adoptee. The language of “prefer”, as utilized in Oregon, Alabama, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island, was lobbied OUT of this bill. By replacing this single word, the legislation undermines an adoptee’s right to due process and the equal protection of the law. Section 4 of the bill places limitation on the time frame (07.01.16) that a birthparent may change their mind or file a Contact Preference Form and a Medical History Form. After that date, it is in the discretion of the Registrar. Of further concern, for adoptions after 07.01.16, it is an adoption agency, not the Registrar, that issues and collects the forms. No language in the bill provides date for compliance and there is no oversight or penalty to an agency that fails to adhere to the law. Continue Reading →

Bastard Nation Action Alert: Texas HB 984–Amend or Vote No!

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Section 2 and Section 3 of the bill would provide a birthparent a new affirmative right to “authorize” or “not authorize” contact, by their adult adoptee. The language of “prefer”, as utilized in Oregon, Alabama, New Hampshire, and Maine, was lobbied OUT of this bill. By replacing this single word, it changes the intent of adoptee autonomy. Continue Reading →

Ohio: Rep Buchy appears to be unaware of…Or, everything that’s wrong with ORTL’s “adoption reform” scam

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Here’s a couple relevant parts of Buchy’s legislative baby roundup with my quick comments below them.

Ohio law affords the father of any newborn child the opportunity to come forward and protest the adoption in the case that he wants to retain custody of his child. Under the current structure, adoptive parents can go through the entire adoption process before the clock runs out on the biological father’s decision to retain custody of the child, preventing the adoption to go through…

….Research has indicated that children who grow up in a two-parent household are much more likely to become productive members of society rather than a drain on social systems. And second, as an ardent supporter of the pro-life movement, the more adoptive parents that we can encourage with incentives, the more mothers with unwanted pregnancies we can help carry their babies to full-term, knowing that there is a loving home waiting for their children.

Since he asked for it, I’m personalizing my comments here to Rep Buchy, but they are dedicated to every state representative and senator who support this nonsense and clearly know nothing about adoption, its procedures and consequences, except what is fed to them by their anti-abort masters, adoption industry,and the national Adoption Awareness Month. No flip the script for them!!

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#flipthescript: a few thoughts

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The #flipthescript campaign is a welcome addition to the adoptee rights movement, but it is sad, alarming, and well…crazy that after 60 years of adoptee rights agitation Class Bastard still has to fight for the simple “right” of voice, while the US adoption spammer and its special interests loudmouths its way across the universe continuing to grind out adoption-ready bastards, fractured families, and Big Secrets and Lies for profit. Continue Reading →

New Jersey. When is OBC access not? What kind of right denies itself?

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No copy of the agreement, if it actually exists in writing, has been published, so we have only news reports to go by. So far, it appears that all the state’s adoptees will be able to receive a copy of their original birth certificate; but some OBCs will be mutilated by state bureaucrats to make a few disgruntled birthparents emotionally comfortable. I haven’t heard if it is only the parent(s) name that will be blacked out (as per the new Ohio law) or if the original name of the adoptee or other information that could be deemed as “identifying” will go, too. This is nothing more than the old black-out/white-scheme that’s been around for decades and rejected repeatedly. Until now.. Continue Reading →