Texas: Bastard Nation Testimony in Opposition to SB 287

Tomorrow the Texas Senate Jurisprudence Committee will hold a hearing on SB 287, the newest attempt by legislators to torture that state’s Class Bastard. There are more things wrong with this bill than the special effects in Spiderman. Below is the 3-minute testimony Bastard Nation submitted to the committee. Texas Senate Jurisprudence Committee, March 22, 2011 SUBMITTED TESTIMONY SB 287 access to identifying information for adoptions original birth certificate access OPPOSE Privilege is the opposite of right Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization is the largest adoptee civil rights organization in the United States. We support full, unrestricted access for all adopted persons, upon request, of their own true, unaltered original birth certificates (OBC). We oppose SB 287. SB 287 is egregious in extremis. SB 287 is prospective. It contains a misnamed, linguistically confusing “contact preference form” (which has nothing to do with “preference” or “contact”)that authorizes a natural parent to not only order the state registrar to withhold the OBC from the adoptee, but to override the “preference” of the other parent that it be released. Moreover, treating adult adoptees and their natural parent(s) as children at best, dangerous criminals at worst, SB 287 forces mandatory social service or Continue Reading →