June 15th, 2015 EDIT: The information regarding the opposition of Helene Weinstein’s office and blockage of the NY Bill of Adoptee Rights is actually now in question. This message that Ms. Weinstein was “the issue” always came directly from Joyce Bahr of Unsealed Initiative. That validity of that leadership is now a cautionary tale of what NOT to do.
Local New York Adoptee Rights Protest for OBC Access
- Who: NY’s Unsealed Initiative: www.unsealedinitiative.org
- When: Sunday September 29th, 2013 at 12:30pm
- Where: NY State Assemblywoman Helene E. Weinstein’s Brooklyn, NY district office at 3520 Nostrand Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11229
- Why: She is THE biggest opponent to NY Bill of Adoptee Rights Legislation
Why Are We Just Going after Helen Weinstein?
Helen Weinstein has repeatedly prevented New York State’s Bill of Adoptee Rights from moving forward for a vote on the assembly floor. SHE is the obstacle.
Once again Brooklyn Assemblymember Helene Weinstein, Chair of Judiciary Committee, has stepped in to hold A909 from advancing to the assembly floor for a vote. She has stymied our legislation and continues to say the birth parents were promised confidentiality which we know is not the case. Every non-adopted person can easily obtain their original birth certificate. Adult adoptees should have that same right. Having one class of people treated differently than another based on the circumstances of their birth is the definition of discrimination. This is a violation of adopted citizen’s civil rights!
New York, being New York, is also VERY IMPORTANT to the rest of the countries fight to restore OBC access to adopted people. If NY was to restore adoptees civil rights, other states could turn quicker. New York, it has been said, “sets the tone”.
Do You Want Your Birth Certificate from New York State?
Then make it so! Make this important. Do NOT make excuses! Please join us and let our voices be heard! We can no longer just sit back and say “pass this!” We have WORK to do!
If you cannot be there in person, please write her, call her, email her. As her “concern” is the adoption mythology of “birthmother privacy” , if you have a particular point to make on that side of the issue, it would be best.
Email Helen Weinstein about the need to support adoptee rights at: WeinstH@assembly.state.ny.us
Helen Weinstein’ s District Office
- 3520 Nostrand Avenue
- Brooklyn, NY 11229
- 718-648-4700
Helen Weinstein’ s Albany Office
- LOB 831
- Albany, NY 12248
- 518-455-5462
Below is Assemblywoman Helene E. Weinstein’s contact/address information page where you can also fill out her contact form and email her that way.
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Helene-E-Weinstein/contact/
Need to now more about the Battle to Free Adoption Records in New York?
The history of sealed adoption records in the US and the current battle in New York’s legislation to free them in parts I, II and II.
Dear Claudia,
I assume this will be routed to your e-mail, and you may simply want to delete this comment as it will be off topic. I want to assure you this is not another string of comments and you won’t have to close off comments on this post.
First of all, I want to say I am sorry. I do really enjoy intellectual debates, and I thought others were having fun. (Mother forced me to join the debate club as a teen because I was so annoying. Love to debate politics, ect.) And I was procrastinating on a writing deadline.
However, that was no excuse for my insensitivity. I assumed people were having fun, like me. Later I looked at facebook, and saw that people were genuinely offended. And, largely, misunderstanding my posts. Which, shouldn’t be a surprise to me, as a string of hastily written comments are going to come across as rather incomprehensible.
“Hmm.. yeah. I would say there are “defog” stages… like 1st OMG you have no idea what you are talking about!! Then 2: You are crazy! then 3: oh maybe it does make sense… to wow. yeah that IS wrong.. to im’ hurt.. then bitter.. then angry.. then STFU and then eventually I THINK accepting where others are… at least I TRY to be like that! lol Would be a good thing to crowd source for others experiences for sure!”
Oh, I’m sorry. I was just having fun. I thought you all were too. I have fun arguing.
I actually had read your experience, and later I read Mystery’s. One of the most confusing things for me was how a woman could be so confused and coerced. I understood the mental depression/ panic disorder/ PTSD/ anxiety/ denial-that-I’m-pregnant aspect of the situation. But Mystery’s story conveyed the brainwashing of a religious community, ineffective parents, and reluctance/ inability to set boundaries and clarify her own wishes. (i.e.- Getting back on the plane to go to New Zealand.) I appreciated learning about your experiences and thank you for sharing them.
The ugly babies. 🙂 Ah, sorry about that. I am not a baby person. Someone had said that I wanted “a womb fresh baby” which I thought was amusing. I also thought you would find it amusing, as you mentioned that you would like to be childless in another life. I am just simply not a baby/toddler person, although I’ll fake it for friends. The only baby I would be happy with would be my own. But you all _are_ baby people. Again, I am sorry for any insult or hurt I caused.
And that put the light bulb on. That was why you (and Mystery) didn’t get an early abortion. You are a baby person, yet didn’t live in a community/family (African American or otherwise) that would have supported you keeping your baby as a young woman.
I also didn’t understand the differences in personality for other 18 year olds. It is very hard for me to understand the lack of ability to advocate for oneself and set boundaries. From age 15-25 my friends were involved in activist causes (AIDS awareness, NARAL, anarchist clubs, volunteers.) The inability to clearly say to people, “I am not going to do XYZ” or even “back off” is hard for me to understand. (It was extraordinarily hard for me to understand that a pregnant woman could give birth to her own baby, and yet tell people she was willing to adopt when she was not willing to do so.) Thank you (And Mystery on her blog) for sharing that information. But you all did convey that — and I appreciate your trying to communicate it to someone who is rather thick-headed.
There are things your community does not understand about other issues (and I do think there is misdirected anger) but like rape victims space is required. I am sorry I invaded that space as something other then a therapist/ sympathizer.
We will probably never fully understand each other, but I support your efforts to help young women make a real choice about parenting without pressure or coercion. All the best, and sorry for the deluge of comments this last weekend and I promise, no more comments. 🙂
Best, Poll