Bastard Nation
Action Alert!May 25, 2004 URGENT ACTION NEEDED **TODAY** IN LOUISIANAHELP DEFEAT LA HB372, A BILL THAT WOULD CREATE A CONFIDENTIAL
INTERMEDIARY SYSTEM WITH DISCLOSURE VETOES AND MANDATORY COUNSELINGHB 372, "Children/Adoption," contains a disastrous Confidential
Intermediary section (articles 1191-1192). It will be heard **TODAY**,
TUESDAY, MAY 25TH, at 9:00 a.m. by the Louisiana Senate Judiciary A
Committee. This bill has already passed the House 85-16.
Please email, call, or fax the committee members **TODAY** and let them
know why HB372 is unacceptable to adult adoptees. HB 372 proposes the creation of a state-run confidential intermediary
system for contacting birth parents on behalf of adult adoptees born in
Louisiana. HB 372 contains language that allows birth parents to
consent to release of identifying information or deny access, and makes
information release contingent on mandatory counseling of both the
adoptee and the birthparent. Under current Louisiana law, there are no
statutes that specifically allow birth parents to deny access to
identifying information.
Passage of this bill may bolster arguments that birthparent consent
should be required before any records should be released to adult
adoptees and hinder efforts to open records to adult adoptees
unconditionally.
You can read the bill at:
http://www.legis.state.la.us/leg_docs/04RS/CVT10/OUT/0000LCBT.PDF,
Bill status and other information is linked at
http://www.legis.state.la.us/bills/byinst.asp?sessionid=04RS&billtype=HB&billno=372.
For more information on why CI programs are a poor substitute for open
records for adult adoptees, see
http://www.bastards.org/activism/theinter.html, "The Intermediary
System is not the Solution."
Contact InformationJUDICIARY A COMMITTEE
Senator Arthur J. "Art" Lentini (Chairman)
6620 Riverside Drive
Suite 312
Metairie, LA 70003
(504) 780-8700
lentini@legis.state.la.us
Senator Robert W. "Bob" Kostelka (Vice-Chairman)
Mailing:
Post Office Box 2122
Physical:
1818 Avenue of America
Monroe, LA 71207
(800) 508-5572
kostelka@legis.state.la.us
Senator Reggie P. Dupre, Jr.
P. O. Box 3893
Houma, LA 70361-2016
(985) 876-9902
lasen20@legis.state.la.us
Senator Cleo C. Fields
Post Office Box 94183
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
(225) 342-9793
fieldsc@legis.state.la.us
Senator "Nick" Gautreaux
100 N. State Street
Suite 150
(Courthouse Building)
Abbeville, LA 70510
(337) 740-NICK
websen@legis.state.la.us
Senator Melvin "Kip" Holden
2013 Central Road
Baton Rouge, LA 70807
(225) 774-8017
lasen15@legis.state.la.us
Senator Craig F. Romero
300 Iberia Street
Suite B-150
New Iberia, LA 70560
(337) 364-8006
romeroc@legis.state.la.us
EMAIL CUT AND PASTE
lentini@legis.state.la.us
kostelka@legis.state.la.us
lasen20@legis.state.la.us
fieldsc@legis.state.la.us
websen@legis.state.la.us
lasen15@legis.state.la.us
romeroc@legis.state.la.us
Call, fax, write today! Your letters and phone calls do make a difference.
Legislative Committee
Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
http://www.bastards.org/
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