Rhode Island: S 478 Sub AA Passes House!

A few minutes ago, Kara Foley with Access Rhode Island, posted on her FB page that S 478 Sub AA passed the House.

Now on to the governor.

No details yet.

Rhode Island S478 Sub AA: Support Letter to Full House

Bastard Nation, the Adoptee Rights Organization, the largest adoptee civil rights organization in North America, urges the passage of Rhode Island S478 Sub AA, which restores the right of all Rhode Island adoptees to access their original birth certificates without restriction, upon request.

We, however, reject the age qualification of 25, set by the Senate,. The House earlier had voted 66-0 for H5443 Sub A which authorized the access age at 18, the state's age of majority. with which we agree.

That said, lawmakers in both Houses have already decided that all Rhode Island adoptees, without condition and restriction, have a right, as they did until 1944, to their original birth certificates. It is, therefore, imperative to restore that right now, and get a clean law on the books and working.

We believe that in the near future, the access age set out in S478 Sub AA should be and can be reduced to the age of majority in order for the adopted and not-adopted to be treated the same under law and policy regarding public document access. The age discrepancy sets a bad precedent, and treats the adopted and no adopted differently.

We are grateful for the support Rhode Island House Members have shown in the past for adoptees and our rights. We trust this support will continue, even with a flawed bill.

We urge you to vote DO PASS on S478 Sub AA. It's passage will put Rhode Island in the forefront of adoption reform in the United States today.

Yours truly,
Marley E. Greiner
Executive Chair,
Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization

rep-mccauley@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-blazejewski@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-ajello@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-fox@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-desimone@rilin.state.ri.us,
ep-hull@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-cimini@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-tarro@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-williams@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-slater@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-diaz@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-medina@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-carnevale@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-lima@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-mattiello@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-palumbo@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-jacquard@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-handy@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-mcnamara@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-bennett@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-naughton@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-ferri@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-flaherty@rilin.state.ri.us,
reptrillo@aol.com,
rep-nunes@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-morgan@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-serpa@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-guthrie@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-tomasso@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-watson@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-costa@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-ehrhardt@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-lally@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-tanzi@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-dickinson@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-walsh@rilin.state.ri.us,
ep-azzinaro@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-kennedy@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-valencia@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-chippendale@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-marcello@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-ucci@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-fellela@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-petrarca@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-menard@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-ogrady@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-keable@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-newberry@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-baldellihunt@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-brien@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-phillips@rilin.state.ri.us,
ep-macbeth@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-winfield@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-schadone@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-corvese@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-silva@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-mclaughlin@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-sanbento@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-oneill@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-ecoderre@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-johnston@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-messier@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-dasilva@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-melo@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-savage@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-hearn@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-malik@rilin.state.ri.us,
ep-morrison@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-gallison@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-edwards@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-gordon@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-reilly@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-jackson@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-ruggiero@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-martin@rilin.state.ri.us

Isaac Jonathan Dykstra Update: Trial date to be announced soon

This is cross-posted from my Russian blog, Nikto Ne Zabyt -- Nichto Ne Zabyto.

Eastern Iowa News Now reported yesterday that lawyers have narrowed down Brian Dykstra's trial date to the week of October 24 or the week of November 28, 2011. Dyskstra is charged with 2nd degree murder in the August 2005 death his Russian adopted son, Isaac Jonathan Dykstra.

Due to scheduling conflicfts, proceedings maybe be forced to occur in non-sequential order. A definite trial date will be announced soon.

Eleven doctors and 39 witnesses are expected to testify.

More information on the case can be found on Nikto, in the righthand sidebar, including In Memoriam and Summary of Killers and Sentences.

Rhode Island: S 478 Sub AA Passes Committee!

No details, but Kara Foley, from Access Rhode Island reports on her FB page that S478 Sub AA passed the House HEW Committee today. A full floor vote is scheduled for Wednesday.

Action Alert: Write Rhode Island House Today. Support S478 SubAA

PLEASE FORWARD FREELY

BASTARD NATION ACTION ALERT

RHODE ISLAND S 478 Sub AA

Rhode Island Adoptees Need Your Help Today!

House HEW vote scheduled for 4:00 PM Monday, June 27, 2011

Tell House Committee to support HB S478 Sub AA--

already supported similar bill a few weeks ago

Make Rhode Island #7

H478 Sub A, amended and re-numbered to H478 AA, a bill to allow any adoptee 25 years or older to obtain a copy of that person’s original birth certificate with no conditions or restrictions passed the Rhode Island Senate unamously last week. Friday the bill, now re-numbered S478 Sub AA, was assigned to the House Health and Human Services Committee. A hearing is scheduled for Monday June 27, 2011

IMPORTANT NOTE: a similar House bill H 5443 Sub AA passed the House 66-0 two weeks ago, but will not be heard in the Senate. H478 Sub AA is the LIVE BILL.

Despite the age qualificaiton (orignally 30, but reduced to 25 last week), which Bastard Nation does not agree with, we believe that since the House and Senate are already in agreement that the state's adoptees have a right to their original birth certificates without restriction upon request, that the Senate bill needs passed and working now.

Read the bill here.

Read Bastard Nation's letter to the Rhode Island House here.

Members of both houses have voiced support for a reduction in the age of access. Bastard Nation and activists on the ground in Rhode Island believe this change can and will take place within in a reasonable amount of time--and won't go away until it is. It is clear, unfortunately, that this reduction will not happen with this bill.

TALKING POINTS
Since the Rhode Island House just weeks ago voiced unamous support for the restoration of OBC access for all the state's adoptees without restriction at the age of 18, there is no reason for members will drop support now.

S478 Sub AA:

***acknowledges a legally, morally, and ethically correct one-size-fits all standard of identity and records rights for all adopted persons. It treats the adopted the same as the non-adopted.

***does not open original birth certificates and other records to the public.

***does not change adoption procedures

***is about rights not reunions. It is about the relation of adoptees to the state.

Please write the House HEW committee today today and urge them to support S478 Sub AA


Please write the House HEW committee today today and urge them to support S478 Sub A

CONTACT INFORMATION

Go to the House HEW Committee page here

or

Cut and paste

rep-azzinaro@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-bennett@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-cimini@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-corvese@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-diaz@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-gordon@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-handy@rilin.state.ri.us,
repmclaughlin@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-mcnamara@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-morgan@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-ruggiero@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-serpa@rilin.state.ri.us,
rep-tomasso@rilin.state.ri.us

S 478 Sup AA is supported by Access Rhode Island, Bastard Nation, and the American Adoption Congress.

For more information go to
Access Rhode Island's webpage
Access Rhode Island's Facebook page

Bastard Nation's Letter to Rhode Island House: Support S478 SubAA

Bastard Nation, the Adoptee Rights Organization, the largest adoptee civil rights organization in North America, urges the passage of Rhode Island S478 Sub AA, which restores the right of all Rhode Island adoptees to access their original birth certificates without restriction, upon request.

We are, however, disappointed by the age qualification of 25, set by the Senate, since the House earlier had voted 66-0 for H5443 Sub A which authorized the access age at 18, the state's age of majority.

That said, lawmakers in both Houses have already decided that Rhode Island adoptees have a right, as they did until 1944, to their original birth certificates, so it is imperative to restore that right now, and get a clean law on the books and working.

We believe that in the near future, the access age set out in S478 Sub A should be and can be reduced to the age of majority in order for the adopted and not-adopted to be treated the same under law and policy regarding public document access. The age discrepancy sets a bad precedent.

We are grateful for the support Rhode Island House Members have shown in the past for adoptees and our rights. We trust this support will continue, even with a somewhat flawed bill.

We urge you to vote DO PASS on S478 Sub AA. It's passage will put Rhode Island in the forefront of adoption reform in the United States today.

Yours truly,

Marley E Greiner

Executive Chair

Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization

www.bastards.org

Office: PO Box 1469, Edmond, OK 73083-1469

Bastard Nation is dedicated to the recognition of the full human and civil rights of adult adoptees. Toward that end, we advocate the opening to adoptees, upon request at age of majority, of those government documents which pertain to the adoptee's historical, genetic, and legal identity, including the unaltered original birth certificate and adoption decree. Bastard Nation asserts that it is the right of people everywhere to have their official original birth records unaltered and free from falsification, and that the adoptive status of any person should not prohibit him or her from choosing to exercise that right. We have reclaimed the badge of bastardy placed on us by those who would attempt to shame us; we see nothing shameful in having been born out of wedlock or in being adopted. Bastard Nation does not support mandated mutual consent registries or intermediary systems in place of unconditional open records, nor any other system that is less than access on demand to the adult adoptee, without condition, and without qualification.

Send Thank You to RI Senate

Please take a moment to drop a line to the Rhode Island Senate and thank members for passing s478 Sub A.

Here is Bastard Nation's letter:

Thank you for your DO PASS vote on S478 Sub A, which restores the right of all Rhode Island adoptees to access their original birth certificates. We, are of course, disappointed that the amendment did not sunset or lower the age of access to the age of majority, as we and other adoptee rights activist had requested That is the next campaign, and we believe it will be successful!

Restoring adoptee right to access, though, puts Rhode Island in the forefront of adoption reform in the United States today. Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

Marley E. Greiner
Executive Chair,
Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization


Below is cut and paste contact information.
sen-goodwin@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-pichardo@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-perry@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-ruggerio@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-jabour@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-metts@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-ciccone@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-doyle@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-pinga@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-felag@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-ottiano@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-dipalma@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-paivaweed@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-daponte@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-nesselbush@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-crowley@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-oneill@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-devall@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-moura@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-picard@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-kettle@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-tassoni@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-fogarty@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-cote@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-lombardo@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-lanzi@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-gallo@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-miller@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-mccaffrey@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-walaska@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-lynch@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-bates@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-lynch@rilin.state.ri.us,
en-shibley@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-maher@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-hodgson@rilin.state.ri.us
sen-sheehan@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-sosnowski@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-algiere@rilin.state.ri.us

New Jersey: What is a Conditional Veto?

As expected, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has conditionally vetoed NJCare's bad S799/A1399 bill; combined parts of the New Jersey Catholic Conference/ACLU, NJRT/Quigley S3672 badder bill, and submitted "recommendations" to create the baddest bill. Christie's recommendation statement is here.

While Bastardette is glad that Christie vetoed the bill, he's on the road to creating an even bigger mess and maze for Jersey adoptees to travel. This new scheme, timed as it is, will make it more difficult than ever for the rights of all New Jersey bastards to be restored.

I'm going to be away a good part of today, and won't have time to analyze the changes; so I won't have anything online until this weekend. I have A LOT to say!

In the meantime, people have asked what a conditional veto actually means.

Good question!

The New Jersey legislature now has three options.

(1) Affirm Christie's recommendations making them law.

(2) Override Christie's veto and 799/1399 becomes law. There are not enough votes to do that.

(3) Take no action; come back next year or when Christie is no longer in office and try again.

Since Christie and the legislature overall want something "fixed" my bet is Option 1.

Too bad Christie didn't veto for the right reasons.

Good News from Rhode Island - YES!

No details yet, but the Rhode Island Senate this afternoon passed S478 Sub A, reportedly 36-0, with a amendment to lower the age of access from 30 to 25. No sunset provision unfortunately.

The bill now goes to the House. I doubt the House will balk since a few days ago it passed the similar H5453 Sub A with the access age of 18.

Obviously, we are not happy that access age remains above the age of majority. We also urged a sunset to the higher age be added. That said, lowering the age will be a much easier than getting rid of a prospective only access, a disclosure veto or any other measure that codifies less than full disclosure,which Rhode Islanders were facing only a few days ago.

Access Rhode Island, Bastard Nation (who has been working in an advisory capacity with ARI) and other Rhode Island activists have made it clear that this law will not be "complete" until every Ocean State adoptee can get their OBC at the age of majority.

We'll update you when we are.

New Jersey Update: Christie Will Conditionally Veto; Will Offer "Compromise"

According to New Jersey ACLU Director Deborah Jacobs, Gov. Chris Christie is conditionally vetoing He reportedly has created a hybrid bill that is somewhere between the bad deform S799/A1399(Vitale) bill and the badder adoptoin indusry A3672 (Quigley) bill. Contents of Christie's compromise won't be known until tomorrow.

This was just what I was afraid of.

The nightmare continues. I believe everyone in involved in this battle just want it over with It won't be.

More information when released.

Another "Legalized" Illegal Baby Dump in Florida

Short comment today.

Tuesday's Miami Herald published the area's latest baby dump story, Newborn girl left at Coral Springs. (my emphasis)

Several firefighters were in the Coral Springs fire station Monday night when a baby’s cry summoned them outside where they found a newborn girl.

“She was wrapped in some T-shirts,” said Mike Moser, spokesman for Coral Springs Fire Department. “The child still had the umbilical cord and some of the placenta attached.”

Firefighters took the baby to Northwest Medical Center where doctors examined her. She was in good condition.

Then, she was taken to Safe Haven for Newborns, a state organization that works closely with private adoption agencies, Moser said....

where she was, (I say) neutralized, homogenized, and statisticalized into the "safe haven" system, never more to be seen or heard.

Sorry folks, this is not a 'safe haven" case. A legal dump requires that an infant to be handed over in person, not left in a basket, or box, or dropped in the grass like an old sock. The baby was left unattended outside a fire station.

But why quibble with legalities? Apparently, the State of Florida treats illegal abandonment as a legal "safe surrender" abandonment, to cook its books to claim "another baby saved." These shenanigans certainly don't hurt the Safe Haven for Newborn fund raising efforts, either or the politicians and "professionals" associated with it.

Florida, a hub of corrupt and secret adoption, is one of the few states that mandates "safe havened" babies go directly into the private adoption $pammer to be anonymized and placed in politically correct homes for hefty lawyer and agency fees. The state child welfare system, while deeply flawed, at least demands some accountability. Once a baby is "disappeared" in private industry, there is none.

Anybody in Florida know more about A Safe Haven for Newborn Director Nick Silverio's activities with private agencies? Finder's fees?

I made this as large as I could, but you stil can't read it well. Click here for a larger graphic. Baby butter indeed!

Rhode Island: Bastard Nation Action Alert--Support S 478 Sub A and age reduction now! Make RI #7

PLEASE FORWARD FREELY

BASTARD NATION ACTION ALERT

RHODE ISLAND S 478 Sub A

Rhode Island Adoptees Need Your Help Today!

Vote scheduled for Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Tell the Rhode Island Senate to support HB S478 Sub A

Make Rhode Island #7

HB 478 Sub A, a bill to allow any adoptee 30 years or older to obtain a copy of that person’s original birth certificate with no conditions or restrictions is scheduled for a Senate Floor vote Wednesday June 22. Also scheduled, is the introduction of amendment to lower the age from 30.

Read bill here.

HISTORY
HB 478 Sub A is an amended version of the earlier S 478, which included a disclosure veto. That bill also had provisions that limited original birth certificate (OBC) access to adult adoptees born after Jan. 1, 2012, or to those who are 40 years or older after the effective date of the bill. None of those provisions restored the right of OBC access guaranteed until 1944, for all Rhode Island adoptees. Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin supported this bad bill, and took a lot of heat after she told the Providence Journal she wanted to limit OBC access to older adoptees because "I want them to be able to find their records in an appropriate and meaningful kind of way, not because they want to get back at their adoptive parents."

After heavy public and private criticism from the Rhode Island adoption community and reformers, Goodwin backtracked, the prospective provision and vetoes were removed, and the age limit reduced to 30.

Last week the bill passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously with a Do Pass recommendation to the full Senate. Committee members also showed unanimous support for a floor amendment to lower the age of access. (Earlier the Rhode Island House passed a similar clean bill, 66-0, (which not scheduled for Senate hearing) that would let all adoptees 18 or older to apply for their OBC. Sen. Rhoda Perry says she will introduce an amendment to sunset the age qualification and lower the age . At this time we do not know the text of her amendment. The floor vote is scheduled for Wednesday, June 22.

TALKING POINTS
S 378 Sub A:

***acknowledges a legally, morally, and ethically correct one-size-fits all standard of identity and records rights for all adopted persons. It treats the adopted the same as the non-adopted.

***does not open original birth certificates and other records to the public.

***does not change adoption procedures

***is about rights not reunions. It is about the relation of adoptees to the state.

URGE SENATORS TO LOWER AGE QUALIFICATION FROM 30 TO AGE OF MAJORITY

***The age of majority: "adulthood in the eyes of the law." After reaching majority, a person is permitted to vote, make a valid will, enter into binding contracts, marry, enlist in the military, and purchase alcohol. In most states, including Rhode Island, the age of majority is 18, but this varies depending on the activity. In no state does age of majority exceed the age of 21.

***Rhode Island Code: § 15-12-1: Persons of full age. – (a) Notwithstanding any general or public law or provision of the common law to the contrary, all persons who have attained the age of eighteen (18) years shall be deemed to be persons of full legal age.

***The non-adopted of Rhode Island (or any other state) are not required by statute to be 30 years of age to access their own birth certificates. Likewise, in states where adoptee rights are in force, the age of majority holds.

Please write the Rhode Island Senate today and urge them to support the (1) bill as written and (2) lower age of access to the age of majority.

Bastard Nation's letter to the Senate is here.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Go to the Senate Contact page for contact information

or

Cut and paste

sen-goodwin@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-pichardo@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-perry@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-ruggerio@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-jabour@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-metts@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-ciccone@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-doyle@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-pinga@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-felag@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-ottiano@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-dipalma@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-paivaweed@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-daponte@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-nesselbush@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-crowley@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-oneill@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-devall@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-moura@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-picard@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-kettle@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-tassoni@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-fogarty@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-cote@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-lombardo@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-lanzi@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-gallo@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-miller@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-mccaffrey@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-walaska@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-lynch@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-bates@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-lynch@rilin.state.ri.us,
en-shibley@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-maher@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-hodgson@rilin.state.ri.us
sen-sheehan@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-sosnowski@rilin.state.ri.us,
sen-algiere@rilin.state.ri.us

S 478 Sub A has an excellent chance of passing. The bill is supported by Access Rhode Island, Bastard Nation, and the American Adoption Congress.

For more information go to
Access Rhode Island's webpage
Facebook page

Also post your comments on the bill, particularly this article, on the ProJo site. (registration required) Senators are reading them! (There are other articles on the bill, but this is the latest.)

As soon as the bill passes the Senate we will send out an action alert for the House.

Rhode Island: Bastard Nation Letter to RI Senate in support of S478 Sub A and age reduction

Dear Senator:

Bastard Nation, the Adoptee Rights Organization, the largest adoptee civil rights organization in North America, conditionally supports Rhode Island S 478 Sub A.

Bastard Nation is happy that S 478 Sub A is clean, bill that makes the OBC available to all Rhode Island adoptees without restrictions. We do not, however , support the age qualification, which limits access to adoptees 30 years of age and older. We believe that adopted adults should be treated the same under law as the not-adopted. We, therefore, urge the Senate to extend access to all adoptees when they reach the age of majority.

The age of majority is defined as "adulthood in the eyes of the law." After reaching majority, a person is permitted to vote, make a valid will, enter into binding contracts, marry, enlist in the military, and purchase alcohol. Also, parents may stop making child support payments when a child reaches the age of majority. In most states, including Rhode Island, the age of majority is 18, but this varies depending on the activity. In no state does age of majority exceed the age of 21.

Rhode Island Code: § 15-12-1: Persons of full age. – (a) Notwithstanding any general or public law or provision of the common law to the contrary, all persons who have attained the age of eighteen (18) years shall be deemed to be persons of full legal age.

The not-adopted of Rhode Island (or any other state) are not required by statute to be 30 years of age to access their own birth certificates. Likewise, in states where adoptee rights are in force, the age of majority holds. We believe that the 30 year qualification in S 478 Sub A is discriminatory and unnecessary. Since the Rhode Island House passed a similar bill, H 5453 Sub A, 3 66-0, a few days ago, (which will not now receive a Senate hearing) with the age of access set at 18, and with all arguments against access refuted in the Senate through the Do Pass recommendation of Health and Human Services sub bill, this burden makes no sense.

We urge the Senate to reconsider the age qualification, and amend S 478 Sub A to match Rhode Island's age of majority statute, 18. If the bill cannot be amended this session due to time constraints with end-of-session voting, we urge the legislature to pass the bill as currently written, but to return next session to amend the age qualification to align not only with the Rhode Island code, but with states across the country where OBCs are open unconditionally. While we prefer to see the bill amended to majority now, a sunset, which would lower the age of access within a reasonable time, which we understand will be proposed by Sen. Rhoda Perry during the floor vote, is acceptable, but regrettable. Without knowing the specifics of that amendment, we can only qualify our support of it and defer comment.

If the age qualification is not changed to conform with age of majority, a bad precedent will have been set, segregating OBC access qualification well into adulthood. No one should be forced to wait until the age of 30 to acquire the public documentation of his or her birth.

Please vote DO PASS on S478 Sub A. We also urge you to support an amendment to lower the age of access to conform with Rhode Island age of majority statute, sunset or not. Make Rhode Island a pioneer voice in the restoration of adoptee civil rights! It's the right thing to do!

Marley E. Greiner
Executive Chair,
Bastard Nation, the Adoptee Rights Organization
www.bastards.org

Rhode Island: My Letter to the Providence Journal Published Today

Below is my letter published today in the Providence Journal regarding S478 Sub A. Note that the first commenter brought up abortion. (what else is new?) Please go to the link and comment. Rhode Island adoptees need our help today. The vote is Wednesday. An action alert will be posted shortly. Thanks.

Marley E. Greiner: Adoptees are owed this
Jun 20, 2011

We urge the passage of Rhode Senate bill S478 Sub A, which would restore the right of all Rhode Island adoptees to access their own pre-adoptive original birth certificates (OBCs). We cannot, however, support limiting that access to adoptees age 30 and above. We urge the Senate to extend access to all adoptees when they reach the age of majority.

The age of majority is defined as "adulthood in the eyes of the law." At majority, a person is permitted to vote, make a valid will, enter into binding contracts, marry, enlist in the military and buy alcohol. In most states, including Rhode Island, the age of majority is 18. In no state does majority exceed 21.

The not-adopted of Rhode Island are not required by statute to be 30 years of age to access their own birth certificates. Likewise, in states where adoptee rights are in force, the age of majority holds. We believe that the 30 year qualification in S478 Sub A is discriminatory and unnecessary.

The Senate should amend S478 Sub A to match Rhode Island's age of majority statute. We prefer the bill be amended to majority now, but the proposed sunset within a reasonable time frame, is acceptable, but regrettable.

Otherwise, a bad precedent has been set, segregating OBC access qualification well into adulthood. No one should be forced to wait until they are 30 to acquire the public documentation of their birth.

Marley E. Greiner
Columbus, Ohio

The writer is executive chair of Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization.

Isaac Jonathan Dykstra Update

I'm starting to catch up on some old stories I neglected over the last few months. This is one of them. This is cross-posted from my Russian blog Nikto Ne Zabyt -- Nichto Ne Zabyto

Over a year ago I reported that Brian Dykstra, charged with 2nd degree murder in the death of his adopted Russian son, Issac Jonathan Dykstra, 21 months, had waived his right to a speedy trial. He wasn't joking. According to May 13, 2011 DesMoines Register, Dykstra's trial, scheduled to begin May 23, has once again been postponed. (Trial delayed for former Iowa City man charged in infant death)

On May 5, 2010, just days before his trial was to begin last time, (after at least one earlier postponement), the prosecution and defense filed a joint motion requesting a new trial date due to the complexity of the case. According to their motion, more than 130 witnesses may be called.

No reason for the latest delay has been given, and no new trial date set.

Isaac died on August 14, 2005 the day after he was admitted to the hospital with severe brain injuries. Brian Dykstra, however, was not charged until August 7, 2008. Dykstra remains free on bond. He now lives in South Carolina where his wife is an assistant professor of Spanish at Clemson University. She was not home at the time of the alleged incident and has not been charged.

More information on the case can be found by can be found by clicking on links in the righthand sidebar on Nikto Ne Zabyt including In Memoriam and Summary of Killers and Sentences.

Rhode Island S 478 Sub A: Bastard Nation Statement of Support

Bastard Nation, the Adoptee Rights Organization conditionally supports Rhode Island S 478 Sub A. This bill is an amended version of the earlier S 478, which included a disclosure veto. The bill also had provisions that limited original birth certificate (OBC) access to adult adoptees born after Jan. 1, 2012, or to those who are 40 years or older after the effective date of the bill. None of those provisions restored the right of OBC access guaranteed until 1944, for all Rhode Island adoptees. Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin, whose sister has two adopted children, and supported this bad bill, took a lot of heat after she told the Providence Journal she wanted to limit OBC access to older adoptees because "I want them to be able to find their records in an appropriate and meaningful kind of way, not because they want to get back at their adoptive parents."

After heavy public and private criticism from the Rhode Island adoption community and reformers, Goodwin backtracked, the prospective provision and vetoes were removed and the age limit reduced to 30. On Wednesday the bill passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously with a Do Pass recommendation to the full Senate. Committee members also showed support for a floor amendment to lower the age of access. Sen. Rhoda Perry says she will introduce an amendment to sunset the age qualification and lower the age to 25. The floor vote is scheduled for Wednesday, June 23.

Bastard Nation is happy that S 478 Sub A is clean, but does not support the current age mandate. We believe that adopted adults should be treated the same under law as the not-adopted.

The Age of Majority
The age of majority is defined as "adulthood in the eyes of the law." After reaching majority, a person is permitted to vote, make a valid will, enter into binding contracts, marry, enlist in the military, and purchase alcohol. Also, parents may stop making child support payments when a child reaches the age of majority. In most states the age of majority is 18, but this varies depending on the activity. In no state does age of majority exceed the age of 21.

Rhode Island Code: § 15-12-1: Persons of full age. – (a) Notwithstanding any general or public law or provision of the common law to the contrary, all persons who have attained the age of eighteen (18) years shall be deemed to be persons of full legal age.

The not-adopted of Rhode Island (or any other state) are not required by statute to be 30 years of age to access their own birth certificates. Likewise, in states in where adoptee rights are in force, the age of majority holds. We believe that the 30 year mandate in S 478 Sub A is discriminatory and unnecessary. Since the Rhode Island House passed a similar bill, H 5453 Sub A, 3 66-0, a few days ago, (which will not now receive a Senate hearing) with the age of access set at 18, and with all arguments against access refuted in the Senate, this burden makes no sense.

We urge the Senate to reconsider the age qualification, and amend S 478 Sub A to match Rhode Island's age of majority statute, 18. If the bill cannot be amended this session due to time constraints, (the session closes in a few days), we urge the legislature to pass the bill as currently written, but to return next session to amend the age qualification to align not only with the Rhode Island code, but with states across the country where OBCs are open unconditionally. While we prefer to see the bill amended to majority now, a sunset within a reasonable time frame is not a deal breaker. Otherwise, a bad precedent has been set, segregating OBC access qualification well into adulthood. No one should be forced to wait until the age of 30 to acquire the public documentation of his or her birth.

Bastard Nation has worked in an advisory capacity with Access Rhode Island throughout this campaign. We commend the organization for holding the line during this very complicated negotiation and for deconstructing all opposition arguments in such a sweeping and swift manner. Unlike other "adoptee rights organizations" that toss away the actual right of access "to get something passed" Access Rhode Island has stood firm to restore the right to all of its state's adoptees, not just some. If the age is not amended down this session, Access Rhode Island, Bastard Nation and other Rhode Island activists will work until it is.

Bastard Nation is waiting for information from Access Rhode Island and will issue an action alert very shortly. In the meantime, please go to Adoptee access to birth certificates passes hurdle published in the June 16 edition of the ProJo and voice your opinion. Rhode Island legislators are reading and paying attention to comments.

BUSTED: Adoptive Parents Speak

The other day, someone on the Adoption News and Events Facebook page found a interesting blog, Adoptive Parents Speak. No, it's not one of those warm and cuddly aparent gagfests about Biff, Buffy and their pony in the suburbs waiting for a child. This is a cut-and-paste job of actual pap and adopter comments taken from forums, blogs, and websites.

We've all run across these kinds of comments (and worse) while on our (WARNING: adoption industry term ahead) "adoption journey." A pap, on alt.adoption who actually became a good friend after she got off Clomid, once declared unashamedly that she had "a Constitutional right to a baby."Another alt.adoption regular liked to explain how adoptees tend to suffer from compulsion disorders since their "birthparemts" had a compulsion to take their pants off outside the bounds of holy matrimony--unlike chaste paps and adopters.

Reading these comments individually from people you know, is, however, quite different from reading them in aggregate from people you don't know. Obviously, the 'net has incumbered people's self-protection, privacy, and skills of logic--not to mention etiquette. Even the most venal adoption agent at Little Angels and Orphans Drive-Thru Adoption Agency would cringe at what some of their clients post.

Adoptive Parents Speak has only been up since April, so there aren't a lot of entries, but I thought I'd feature a few here to give you a taste of what certain members of the entitled adoption class say about us and our bios. The quotes are not linked on the blog, but the quote keeper suggests that curious readers google the quotes to find their sources of origin. I believe, however, that they should be linked, so there can be no accusation of contrivance. Let them stew in their own juice.

The majority of adoptive parent "observations" are about sluts that make their families possible: "birthmothers:"

Just Blindside Her

Make that mother look like a Saint. Then blind-side her, she won’t know what hit her. When I had to be NICE to [the] girls’ mothers I just about died inside, but once the termination was over, I just told her what a piece of crap she was. I don’t know your story. But, I will pray that you get to keep [her] child.

anonymous adopter shares her knowledge of adoption tactics

How Selfish

Later she told us she was “leaning towards another family because they were closer”. Not that she had decided to parent (which would have been easier to accept), this other family is physically closer to HER. . Quite selfish! She seems to want only the good visits, etc., but nothing of the daily ups and downs that come with raising her son.

from an Adoptive Parent Forum

God Made Me Do It
My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him.”

from a Christain Adoptive Parenting forum

My snark alarm went off with this one, but I don't care. It's so like what I've heard legitimately over the last 18 years on the 'net, that I'm including it, even though I believe it's a put-on. You never know.

Holy Crap

The adoption option–

The baby’s mother– An immature irresponsible young women most likely from a Jerry Springer Show type of family. She will be extremly emotionally attached to her baby and is too immature to fully understand and cope with the boundaries of an open adoption relationship. Infant adoption is a catch 22. Mothers of good genetic stock aren’t screwed up enough to give thier newborn babies away to strangers…..If a mother is unfit enough to give away her baby she is unfortunatly not only unfit enough to parent but is also unfit where she shouldn’t be breeding and spreading her inferior genes. She is most likely a failure in school with a low IQ. I have read on adoption forums that if an adoptive couple checks off that they don’t want a baby from a birthmother who has smoked during her pregnancy that they will be on the waiting list for a long time….Birthmothers tend to come from families with drug abuse and alcholism. I have seen birthmother blogs and I have never seen an attractive birthmother. Most of them look like the trailer park white trash that they are. Ugly squirrely faces, buck teeth, obese etc. Birthmothers are deadbeat moms. Why would adoptive parents pay 30 grand for some loser’s baby?

The baby’s father—Not the infertile woman’s husband but a pimply faced teenage horn dog who knocked up and dumped the birthmother. He is most likely a loser with a low IQ, history of problems with the law, and a drug and alcohol abuser.

With donor eggs and surrogacy thier baby comes from a genetic legacy of beauty, health and intellegence and is born by the miracle of science and a strong healthy surrogate.

With adoption the baby is born with a genetic legacy of underachievers, family abuse and irresponsiblity.

If a young women is too stupid and trashy to raise her baby then I think she should just have an abortion. I don’t see anything wrong with killing embryos. The world is over populated and only the stupid people are breeding. I know infertile couples are desperate but please….. Next time you are shopping at Walmart look at the white trash there…. Pick out some random trashy teenager… say enie meanie minie mo I pick Y-O-U …. congratulations thats your birthmother! Do you want to raise her little crotch dropping? You probably wouldn’t even want to use the bathroom after her.

From a question and answer site. This is not from an adoptive parent but I felt this quote was important to include in this

******

Now that we know what paps and adopters think of our bio parents, just what do they think about us?

From Motherhood Moments: Love Means Having to Say You’re Sorry by Jacquelyn Mitchard

I once, in a rage, told the daughter I adopted at birth that I wished her birth mother could see what a writhing brat she’d turned out to be”

Sharing is Over Rated

Ramsay has only one mother, Karen, and one father, me. … Ramsay shall remain an integral part of my family and shall not be ‘shared’ in any way, shape or form.”

Adoptive father in a very cruel email to a reunited natural mother in response to her mentioning that their 21-yr-old son now had 4 loving parents – October 16, 2001

The last I find rather chilling,,,

I Guess I'll Keep Him

I instantly hated him (harsh word but the honest truth). I expected to feel the same about him as our first, he had issues with food would never chew just shovel it into his mouth and end up throwing up, he didn’t listen keep in mind he was only 2 1/2 and our first was 4 when we got him and a sweetheart. Adrien the 2 1/2 was the exact opposite. He would hit scratch bite, and cry if you were eating something he wanted, after a week I told my husband A had to go. My dh said if thats what I really wonted that he would support me but to give the little boy another week. By then even with all his problems he was calling me mom so I couldn’t send him back.

from a cloth diapering forum

*I edited out the child’s name

...when read beside the diary entries of Amy Thompson, of Galloway, Ohio, just outside Columbus, convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the torture death of her adopted son Liam Thompson (here and here). Liam, born Dmitry Sergevich Islankulov, was murdered by his forever father, Gary Thompson. The Thompson's adopted Russian daughter, Ira, born Irina Alexandrovna Pavlova, alluded to in the entries below, has been re-adopted by a local family.

The Thompsons "guessed" they'd keep them, too.

Columbus Dispatch, June 19,2003, "Mom says baby scalded becasue she disliked him; mom pleads guilty in connect with son's death"

We discussed how much we would love to get rid of them like dogs at the pound, and even contacted a ranch in Montana about taking them to other homes

and

I just want to leave him somewhere and walk away, just be free of responsibility for his kid I don't even like. He is so slimy He makes me ill.

Columbus Dispatch, December 12, 2004, "Diary of an Adoption Tragedy"
While I am doing this (hitting children and screaming at them) it feels oddly good. I feel a sense of relief to get out some of anger, and I have to stop before I really hurt them. Afterwards, I feel somewhat guilty, but not as much as I should.

Columbus Dispatch, 2010, "Russian girl survives awful first adoption to find love in a new home"

I am mad at them for being so much damn work (angry) at them for not just fitting in and for having no personality.

******

I am pretty sure that my parents didn't talk like the people cut and pasted into Adoptive Parents Speak. See, all four my parents were adopters. Mama Dot adopted two children 10 and 12 years after I was born, and Black Jack adopted his stepson. Obviously, my adoptive parents adopted me.

The cut-and-pasteds may be anomalies and extreme, we hope, but their attitudes bleed large into adoption politics (how else can one explain the demand for adoption tax credits?), especially in OBC access campaigns. In nearly every bill battle Bastard Nation has been involved in or even knows of, the entitled mentality of adopter politicians and/or their family members and close friends who have adopted, is apparent; sometimes uncovered during the debate. Often these people with legislative power don't even try to hide their contempt for adoptees, first families, and and biology in general.

In the mid-1980s, an Ohio House committee was subjected to anti-adoptee testimony by Dr. John Willke from Cincinnati, co-founder of the National Right to Life Committee and anti-bastard/anti-abortion/pro-adoption powerhouse in the state. Willke testified about an alleged adoptee patient of his who, against his advice, sought out her mother, only to "track her down" in the middle of a tryst with a trick. At the same hearing the then Franklin County (Columbus) Probate Judge testified that the only "brithparents" he knew who desired reunion were those in jail who wanted someone to bring them cookies. (Testimonies not online; copies in my possession.)

In 1996 when I testified in support of an adult records access bill before an Ohio House committee, one committee member repeatedly referred to "birthparents" as "prostitutes and junkies" as in, "Do you want a prostitute standing in your front yard in the middle of the night screaming she wants your child?" This same legislator objected to adoptee access to parental non-ID information that included the first names of the parents. As an example of how an "innocent mother" could be "tracked down" by her bastard (oh, wait a minute! I thought he was afraid of a slutmom "tracking down" an "innocent child!") he used the first name of "Orange"as an example of an easy name to find.

Orange?

Bill Pierce, founding president of the National Council for adoption, stated in a fit of snit on alt.adoption one evening, that phone books should be illegal since you can find people with them.

Today, with the advent of OBC bastard victories, and the lack of bio parent blowback and "social disruption," those tabloid stories lack the credibility they had just a few years ago. As a result, adoptee rights opponents have been forced to re-frame their PUBLIC arguments turning the traditional "slutmom" into a "courageous and unselfish" earth mother who chose secret adoption as the only alternative to abortion available to her. (She loved you so much she gave you away. Be happy you weren't aborted. Now shut up!) These saints who nobody cared a rat's ass about a few years ago when Class Bastard was still in the closet, must be protected at all cost. (No one ever bothers with dads). As late as two years ago, a member of the Ohio legislature stated during a committee hearing that he as well as his brother, an Ohio Quad A attorney, advise their "birthparent" clients that they will remain anonymous, a promise which is certainly unethical to make, and besides, it's a lie. When mothers object to rights opponents poking their noses up their skirts they are pathologized or ignored.

Purveyors of this new mythology are even willing to denounce and demonize the sacred commodities they claim to have saved, (depending on the time frame), from whores, junkies, and "abortion mills," by turning adoptees into "stalkers," "trackers" and "homewreckers" when they demand to be treated like the not-adopted who have a right to their own birth certificates. The adopted, once sacrificed out of shame, embarrassment, poverty, or inconvenience are once again sacrificed, this time for the psychological and entitlement demands of others. The "institution" of adoption is more important that those the institution supposedly serves.

Whatever altruism the entitled adoption class claims in public, the subtext is always:

Adoption is all about me.

My kid is all about me.

Adoptive Parents Speak, even with its cherry-picked quotes, shows this very ugly and anti-bastard side of adoption. We certainly don't believe that all adoptive parents and paps subscribe to this distorted view of us and our rights, but as long as those attitudes remain unchallenged, Class Bastard will continue to be captive to archaic laws and chattelized family systems that put our rights and lives in the custody of third party nannies with their own agendas and their government cronies.

In memory of Sam "Butch" Reese

My brother Butch died on Wednesday. I never met him, so there is not much I can say here. I know that he spent the last few years of his life in pain and sickness. He is now at peace.

Butch is survived by his wife Margaret; son Jack and his wife Jennifer Doolan Reese; brother, John Jennings Reese; nieces Crystal Reese and Jasmine Reese-Claybrooks, nephews, Abe Reese, Aaron Reese, Jahmal Reese, Markus Jennings Reese; and grandchildren whose names I don't know.

RIP MY BROTHERS

Robert Jennings Reese, April 8, 1953 - January 1, 2009

Mark Jennings Reese, October 19, 1955 - March 22, 2009

Sam "Butch" Reese September 14, 1946-June 7, 2011

Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture Conference 2012: Call for Papers

The Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture announces:

The 4th International Conference on

Adoption and Culture

Mapping Adoption: Histories,

Geographies, Literatures, Politics

March 22 - 25, 2012

The Claremont Colleges, Claremont, California

Call for Proposal

sFor our 2012 conference, we are expanding our concerns to include not only adoption in its many historical and cultural variations but also parallel institutions such as foster care, orphanages, and technologically-assisted reproduction, as well as various forms of forced relinquishment or family separation. We seek proposals that explore the cultural meanings and/or political locations of any of these practices, and we encourage analyses of relationships among them. We will include academic work from a wide range of scholarly disciplines and areas—literature, film and popular culture and performance studies, cultural studies, history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, political science, law, women’s and gender studies, etc.—as well as artistic presentations of film, creative writing, graphic art, music, or productions in other media. We also encourage interdisciplinary panels, presentations, and productions.
Proposals may address adoption or related practices or their representation in any way, but we especially encourage work addressing race, class, gender, nationality, and/or sexuality and sexual orientation, and/or investigations of topics such as state and institutional power, (in)fertility, markets and market practices, and incarceration.

Confirmed keynote speakers:

Catherine Ceniza Choy, Associate Professor of Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, University of California, Berkeley, whose forthcoming book, Global Families: A History of Asian International Adoption in America, examines how Asian international adoption has contributed to the transformation of the U.S. into an international adoption nation and how its history is also a history of race, labor, immigration and intimacy.

Dan Chaon, adoptee, writer, and Irvin E. Houck Associate Professor of the Humanities at Oberlin College, whose first novel, You Remind Me of Me, and most recent novel, national bestseller Await Your Reply, address themes of adoption. Await Your Reply was named one of the ten best books of the year by Publisher’s Weekly, The New York Times, and other publications.

Please send 200-word proposals for papers or samples of creative work (of less than 10 pages), along with a short c.v. (2-page), to asac2012@scrippscollege.edu.

Proposal deadline: July 1, 2011.

A conference website is under development.

For additional information, contact Susan Castag netto at: scastagn@scrippscollege.edu.

Conference co-chairs: Susan Castagnetto, Intercollegiate Women’s Studies of The Claremont Colleges, Scripps College

Marianne Novy, Department of English, University of Pittsburgh

NOTE: I attended a lecture by Catherine Ceniza Choy last year at Ohio State, and blogged about it here. She is doing very important work on the history of international adoption. Dan Chaon ,of course, the Bastard Poet Laureate of Ohio. I Last wrote about him here.