Getting Screwed Over in NY 2016 Version Greetings from my backyard. Today I am wearing my Constitutional Tramplers T shirt in honor of the New York State legislators who seemed compelled to ignore all their constituents, facts and logic in order to pass some perverted version of a “AdoptionLand; shut the fuck up” bill and dares to say it is Adoptee Rights. This thing, the self admitted “half a loaf”…
“Hole in My Heart” isn’t light reading, but it is compelling and necessary. Perhaps it is best described as s strong dose of medicine; a strong antidote to adoption mythology, and a injection of raw honesty wrapped up in a riveting story of a life uncommon to most, much like a spoonful of sugar. The truth goes down smooth leaving needed ethical questions emerging as an aftertaste.
When you tell man who wrote a bill that he doesn’t know how to write a bill, you issue a challenge. When you insult him and he obviously picked up on that, he comes back at you with the bill he wrote to prove the point. And so, due to that meeting held by UI, our formally beautiful CLEAN NY OBC Adoptee rights bill with a lovely and simple contact preference, has been amended to a version of the 2104 disaster. This is what happens when you throw down the gauntlet. So yeah, the HORRIBLE NO GOOD VERY BAD BILL has come back. A2901 is now A2901A
More Garbage the Pretends to “Save” Babies; There is an amendment comin’ down the pike that will make it even more difficult for a mother who may have relinquished her infant under Illinois’ Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act change her mind and get her child back. And will codify that the child will have a foundling birth certificate.
Help Missouri Adoptees
It is URGENT that Adoptee Rights supporters come out in full force Monday March 16th. This is the hearing for the agency bill HB1112, and we need to show strong opposition. We need to gather anyone who can be there IN PERSON to support HB647. They don’t all have to speak, and they can be friends, neighbors, co-workers whoever can fill seats on our behalf.
A Positive Change Brought about by the Justin Harris Mess; HOUSE BILL 1648 PROHIBIT PRIVATE TRANSFERS OF ADOPTED 9 CHILDREN EXCEPT TO RELATIVES If HB 1648 is passed, then Adoption Rehoming in Arkansas will be a felony!
Ohio-born adoptees adopted from January 1, 1964 to September 18, 1996 and their lineal descendants can access their original (pre-adoption) birth certificate starting on March 20, 2015.
I feel blessed and honored to have been included in the filming of this piece.
The last day of the AAC Conference in San Francisco last year, I heard Jean wanted to film some birthmothers and I volunteered. So we sat in a room and talked about our experiences relinquishing our children to adoption.
Then Jean Strauss worked her magic and this is the end result
When a man fathers a child and chooses, for whatever reason, to ignore the existence of that child, do we respect his wishes overall and grant him his right to his anonymity? No.. so why do mothers receive this “protection” ? Why are we ONLY concerned with the mothers? If this fear was legitimate, then wouldn’t it be fair and expected to extend that concerned to the father’s as well? Should not all people be protected, then, from long lost relatives that might infringe upon their lives and seek out relationships with them?
There is yet another bill trying to rush the process of adoption. Missouri HB 546 Changes the Laws Regarding Adoptions
NY’s Child-Parent Security Act #A04319 and S02765 has been introduced to legalize compensated surrogacy in New York, and provide “protections” that ensure surrogates are entering into legal agreements and there’s no question that the intended parents of the child have full rights that they paid for.
Of course, also included in the proposed legislation are the already archaic practice of sealing the ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
I commend Garrett Joiner and his family for effectively doing what so many cannot: they took on a forced and unethical adoption and have won. This outcome is, by my definition, BEST indeed for Baby Boy W. He is not an adoptee. These battles are horrible and heartbreaking and really do take any person’s last bit of sanity, and often, hope. Garrett Joiner, for a young man, a David, fighting the formidable Goliath has held himself up wonderfully and is a fine example and representative of natural families fighting for their parental rights in forced adoptions.
A new year is here and with that it is time to roll out the Adoptee Rights Bills to Support in 2015. Just like the 2014 and 2013 lists, this will be a living list where things like bill numbers do get updated. However, for the most recent activity on any one state’s pending legislation and needed support, please refer to the websites and Facebook pages. If you know of additional states where legislation is pending this year, please do let me know.
For the last four years, we have tried to get a bill passed in the Indiana State Legislature that would equalize adoption law for all adoptees. Year after year, powerful interests in the adoption law community have ensured that it never got out of committee. This time, it’s going to be different.
Join Me at the American Adoption Congress Conference in Cambridge, MA
When: Conference dates: March 25 to 29th 2015
Where: Hyatt Regency Cambridge, 575 Memorial Dr., Cambridge, MA 02139-4896