The open records language has been removed from HB 7. This is despite moving testimony supporting the right of adopted people to have copies of their original birth certificates and absolutely no testimony against it. That’s right — Ohio’s elected public officials rate the concerns of imaginary people over the concerns of those folks who actually exist, actually vote and get in their cars and take the time to testify.
By refusing to grant access to this basic human right of a non-falsified document that the rest of us non-adopted people can freely take for granted, the Ohio house health committee says this:
If you are not adopted, the friend or family member of an adopted person, a birth family member or the friend or family of a birth family member you need to know that this says something about the way the Ohio house health committee thinks of you, too.
They are saying that basic civil rights are conditional; that the government should have more control over the very truth of your existence than you should; that unexpected pregnancies and the women who have them are shameful; and that the government isn’t here to protect your rights but to shield you regardless of your wants and wishes.
In other words? We should all be concerned.
Join Buckeyes for Equal Access (or your state’s equivalent) to learn who you should contact to let them know that EVERYONE — not just the non-adopted — has a right to his or her true, unmodified, unfalsified birth certificate.
I have two kids and a delightfully odd husband, Brett. My children are Noah (born to us in 1997) and Madison (born to her first mom, Pennie, in 2004 and brought to our family through a domestic, open adoption). They are my inspiration and also the reason I don't get more done around here.
I'm a writer and sometimes I get published, which is a nice thing. I write for joy, I write for money and when I'm very lucky, both things happen at the same time. My work appears in national publications including Yoga Journal, Disney's Family.com, Utne, Wondertime, Brain Child and Salon. Currently I am working on a book about my daughter's adoption and seeking representation for the proposal. I also own Smart Cookie Communications with my husband.
Judy
May 9th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Ohio legislators suck.
Abby
May 9th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Terrible. I honestly thought it was a no-brainer. What an eye-opener.
Lisa V
May 9th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Damn this is so sad.
spyderkl
May 9th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Aw, hell. I can understand the reasons why it didn’t pass, but I really don’t want to.
Marley Greiner
May 9th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Thanks Dawn. This is a very good analysis of what happened. Certain legislators really believes that adoptees and their families are stupid. They need protected from each other. They hate women. I just posted a long account of what’s happened in the last 2 weeks on Bastardette. http://bastardette.blogspot.com
Adoption is a feminsit issue that MUST be revisted. Women’s Liberationists knew this. Unfortunately, the corporate, privildged drones who crowded them out, don’t. Just another way for women to become mothers. gag.