Category: Legislation

Legislation, News

Texas HB 683 Seeks to Expand Baby Moses Abandonment Age to 1-year. Why we oppose

March 20, 2021

HB 683 posits that anonymously and legally abandoning into the Baby Moses system, an older child up to the age of 1 year–a child with an established identity, family, personal relationships, social and medical history, and ties to the community is necessary, much less ethical. While family counseling, respite care, temporary foster care, and even adoption can be solutions to parental child-rearing problems, anonymously dumping a child of any age—especially an older child–should never be seen and urged as a solution, particularly by the state.

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Legislation, News

Bastard Nation Testimony in Support of Texas HB 1386, March 17, 2021

March 18, 2021

Currently, Texas-born adoptees are subjected to serious discriminatory practices hindering their ability to obtain their Original Birth Certificates. Since 2005 the state has released OBCs upon request only to adoptees, who know the name(s) of the parent(s) listed on the document. These OBCs are released without the knowledge or consent of those parents.

The vast majority of everyone else is forced to navigate a cumbersome, difficult, humiliating, and insulting gauntlet of restrictions, arbitrary legal procedures, and naysayers,. and are almost always unsuccessful in their quest. The result of this discrimination is that adoptees are left to their own devices to obtain their own information through inexpensive DNA testing, social media, volunteer search angels, paid searchers. or their own sheer perseverance. I have known adoptees who have spent 30 years or more digging up information and spent over $50,000 in the process

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Legislation, News

Bastard Nation Testimony in Support of Maryland SB 331. Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee

February 1, 2021

Current Maryland law let’s adopted people at the age of 21 years or older whose adoptions were finalized on or after January 1, 2000 to receive their OBC on request, subject to disclosure veto filings; thus, granting a favor for some adoptees but not others depending upon date of birth, adoption and third-person approval. Until all adoptees have a right to unrestricted ownership of their original birth certificates none enjoy that right. It is only a discriminatory favor and privilege.

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Legislation, News

Not with a Bang! Not with a Whimper! Arizona HB 2070 Gets Ripped While “Activists” Go Quiet

January 29, 2021

t was amended down. A lot. Instead of unrestricted unsealing, the Committee decided to keep records closed for those born between 1968-2021. That’s well over half of Arizona adoptees who will (if the bill passes) remain sealed and secret, An amendment was also offered but rejected to add a Disclosure Veto. Oh, and another politician is worried about protecting the “DNA rights “ of birthparents.  What’s he want to do? Ban adoptees from owning Ancestry accounts? Perhaps he was channeling Bill Pierce who long ago declared that it should be illegal for adoptees to use phone books to look for first parents. This is the kind of nonsense Class Bastard is subjected to daily by legos and lawmakers.

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Legislation, News

Submitted Comments on proposed draft language of The Unregulated Transfers of Adopted Children Act – December 4-5, 2020 discussion

December 7, 2020

I cannot stress this enough: “sending” and “receiving” parties involved in unregulated rehoming unlike those who have no intention to sever their parental rights but find themselves in need of temporary custody arrangements, do not follow a “child’s-best-interest standard. Neither “sender” nor ”receiver” are well-intentioned. Please stop acting like they are. Adoptive parents who rehome their “forever children” without regard to ethics or law no longer want the parental responsibility they signed up for and were approved for by social workers and courts. Those who receive these inconvenient children utilize the black/gray market do so for “adoption” (note the quotes), sex trade, or servitude. Each party trolls social media, underground networks, Craig’s List, and other advertising sources, seeking matches often with the assistance of paid third parties. Unregulated custody transfer is a nice name for child trafficking.

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Legislation, News

2020 Legislative Roundup

November 28, 2020

National Adoption Awareness Month is winding down, and today is a good time to post a round-up of 2020 legislative action –if you can call it action. In this Year of Covid-19 it is unlikely that any action, other than the slow death by sine die  (adjournment of the session without action) will take place on any of the few remaining bills. If something does move, I will amend this later and repost it at the end of the year.

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Action Alert, Legislation, News

Bastard Nation Action Alert: Utah H345 restricted bill goes to Senate. Kill it now!

March 10, 2020

Please drop a line to Utah Senators and ask them to oppose HB 345.  .There is no state interest in keeping original birth certificates sealed from adult adoptees to which they pertain. Nor does the state have a right or duty to mediate and oversee the personal relationships of adults. Those who claim a statutory right to parental anonymity through sealed records, as found in HB 345, promote statutory privilege and state favoritism. This is not a bill adoptees want or need.  Only unrestricted, unconditional OBC access is acceptable.

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