Bastard Nation
Press Release
May 15, 2000
For Immediate Release - May 15, 2000
Contact: Bastard Nation 415-704-3166
ALABAMA OPENS BIRTH AND ADOPTION RECORDS
TO ADULT ADOPTEES
Bastard Nation, the Adoptee Rights Organization, is extremely pleased
to announce the passage of Alabama's HB690, which restores the unconditional
right of the adult adoptees of that state to the original records of their
births and adoption. In a moment of historical symmetry, Alabama, which
in 1991 was the last state in the U.S. to deny adoptees access to their
own records, has become the first to open them unconditionally by legislative
action. (A ballot measure in Oregon granting adoptees unconditional access
to their original birth certificates was passed by the electorate in 1998.)
Bastard Nation is very proud to have worked with and supported Alabamians
Working for Adoption Reform and Education (AWARE), the coalition of Alabama
adoptees, birth, and adoptive parents responsible for this historic achievement.
Particular thanks and congratulations go to the prime sponsor of HB 690,
Representative Jeff Dolbare; the Senate sponsor, Senator Phil Poole; and
the leaders of AWARE; BN members Sandra Wilson and David Ansardi as well
as Jean Uhrich.
The dedicated AWARE team lobbied this bill through unanimous House passage
and a 26 to 2 vote in the Senate by relying firmly on the argument that
adoptees are entitled to the same civil rights in respect to accessing
their state-held records as all other citizens. While other adoption reform
efforts have focused on the need for records in order to reunite with
birth parents, AWARE has agreed with Bastard Nation that the question
of records access is one of fundamental rights and not the need for reunion.
Thousands of adoptees across the country are able to find their birth
parents yearly even under the sealed records system; only an acknowledgment
of adoptees' rights to their own records restores them to full equality
with non-adoptees.
The legislators of Alabama recognized the fairness of this argument,
and little opposition was expressed to the bill. An amendment similar
to Oregon's, which allows the birth parent to express a preference regarding
contact with the adoptee, was added on the final day of the Alabama legislature's
regular session. Governor Don Siegelman has expressed his support for
the bill and has said he will sign it into law.
Adoptees and all supporters of Adoptee Rights have cause to rejoice as
Alabama joins Alaska, Kansas and Oregon in the open records column!
Bastard Nation Executive Committee
Marley Greiner
Cynthia Bertrand Holub
Ron Morgan
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