Breaking News: SB623 signed by Kitz. Oregon continues to stand for adoptee rights

Oregon continues to lead the way.  This just in from Ron Morgan:

SB 623 is now Measure 623- it was signed by Governor Kitzhaber on Thursday, June 6, 2013 and will be effective January 1, 2014. At that time Oregon adult adoptees may access their adoption court file upon request, complementing the right to access granted by 1998′s Measure 58.

More to follow…

Breaking News: Oregon leads the way again. SB623 passes. Will open adoption files, not just OBC!

Good news from Oregon!

While Washington state lawmakers continue to sweep  its state’s bastards under the rug like pesky little dust bunnies dirting up the Statehouse. the Oregon House today unanimously  passed SB623.  Enacted in the spirit of Bastard Nation and Helen Hill’s Ballot Measure 58, the bill expands the right of all Oregon adoptees to acquire, upon request, the contents of their adoption file-- a right that no other state (so far!) recognizes. In other words, Oregon has swept away statutory adoption secrecy  by opening the files and trusting the parities involved to leave their axes at home.

Adoptees:

•  the age of OBC access will be lowered from 21 to 18.
•  the entire adoption file, except for the Home Study, will be made available to the adoptee upon request at the age of 18 without a court order.
•  the Home Study may be released by court order for “good cause”.

Birthparents:

•  original parties to the adoption may view and copy documents in the court adoption file to which they were signatories. Under existing law birth parents must petition the courts to gain access to documents they were required to sign, and often are rejected by courts under the onerous and undefined “good cause” doctrine. The new law would provide these documents upon request.

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Ohio: Bastard Bard Mary Gauthier to perform in Columbus May 18!

Save the date!

 Distribute Freely!

I first ran into Mary  over 10 years ago on WCBE.  I’d never heard of her.  I don’t remember the name of the song that was played and the word “adoption” wasn’t mentioned once. But Wowza!   I shouted  ”that’s about being adopted.” It was.  And I googled her. Since then I’ve been a big fan.  Her May 2010 CD The Foundling, is a tour d’ force of her own adoption experience:

The  songs (on The Foundling) tell the story of a kid abandoned at birth who spent a year in an orphanage and was adopted, who ran way from the adopted home and ended up in show business, who searched for birth parents late in life and found one and was rejected, and who came through the other side of all of this still believing in love

–but speaks to us all no matter what our experience.

It was named 3rd top CD of the year by the LA Times.
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Update on Ohio SB23: Passes out of committee with amendments