FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Please forward May 12, 2004 CONTACT: Bastard Nation The Adoptee Rights Organization P.O. Box 1469 Edmond, OK 73083-1469 1-415-704-3166 BASTARD NATION CELEBRATES NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGISLATIVE VICTORY -- ADULT ADOPTEES REGAIN ACCESS TO THEIR ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATES Adult adoptees born and adopted in New Hampshire regained access to their own original, pre-adoption birth certificates following the enactment of Senate Bill 335 by the New Hampshire General Court. The new law will take effect on January 1, 2005, and will allow adult adoptees to receive copies of their original birth certificates upon request, without restriction. The bill's sponsor, Senator Lou D'Allesandro (D-District 20), led the successful legislative campaign and resisted attempts to place restrictions on the legislation, which would have resulted in much more limited access by adult adoptees to their own original birth certificates. Rep. Janet Allen (R- Dist. 31) and the Deputy Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Rep. Michael Whalley (R-Dist. 31), championed the legislation alongside Sen. D'Allesandro. Rep. Allen, an adult adoptee and member of the Legislative Committee of Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization, made an impassioned plea for passage on the House floor, citing the fundamental fairness of treating adopted citizens the same as all others with regard to accessing their own government-held birth certificates. Senate Bill 335 was originally drafted by Paul Schibbelhute, a birth father residing in New Hampshire and member of the New Hampshire grassroots group which supported the legislation alongside a partnership of individuals and national organizations including the American Adoption Congress and Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization. New Hampshire joins Alaska, Kansas, Alabama, and Oregon in providing adult adoptees with unrestricted access to their original birth certificates. Most other nations in the developed world open records to adult adoptees. Bastard Nation applauds all those who worked hard to enact this law. We encourage the citizens of other states to enact similar legislation, because it's the right thing to do. For more information on Bastard Nation, the world's largest non-profit group dedicated to ending decades of violations of adoptee rights around the world, with a focus on the U.S. and Canada, visit our web site http://www.bastards.org.
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Copyright 2004, Bastard Nation
For more information contact:
BASTARD NATION
www.bastards.org
P.O. Box 1469
Edmond, OK 73083-1469
Voice and fax: 415-704-3166
Email: bn@bastards.org
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