July 1, 2023: 2 New States Join the Bastard States of America!

On July 1, 2023, Vermont and South Dakota became the latest states to unseal without condition or restriction, the Original Birth Certificates of their state-born adoptees. And there’s more to come!

Vermont

• Bastard Nation Vermont State Page
• Vermont’s Equal Rights Law A FAQ  (Adoptee Rights Law Center)

In  March 2022 the Vermont legislature passed S275, but the law did not go into effect until July 1, 2023. The new law unseals the OBCs of all Vermont-born adoptees, without conditions or restrictions, at the age of 18; provides for descendant access if the adoptee is deceased; court records can be opened only by court order.

Vermont lawmakers were the easiest and most unique legislators we have ever met. Due to Covid restrictions, hearings were held online and felt more like a bunch of friends sitting around a cabin or a campfire than the usual stuffy, boring, and sometimes intimidating hearing rooms in other states. Committee members were surprised to learn how poorly we have been treated in other states. They told us, “That’s not how we do here.” They held more hearings on our bill than any other legislature in memory. Members asked questions. They cared. They wanted to get it right. They did.

Our side made a terrific team: Vermont Adoptee Rights Working Group; Bastard Nation. Adoptee Rights Law Center, Adoptees United, American Adoption Congress, New England Adoptee Rights Coalition, Adoptees for Choice

South Dakota

• Bastard Nation South Dakota State Page
• South Dakota’s Equal Rights Law: A FAQ (Adoptee Rights Law Center)

South Dakota was also unique: A one-person operation. Gretchen Weible took on the task of opening OBCs with no local or state organization behind her.  HB1251 unseals the OBCs of all South Dakota-born adoptees with no conditions or restrictions, at the age of 18. The bill does not provide for descendant access, and court records are available through court order only.

South Dakota in the past has been a very difficult state with several bills introduced and almost passed. The last time around (2010) the Eagle Forum stepped in to bollocks the bill. As far as I know, not a peep came from the Schflay brigade this time.

This year’s chief sponsor, Mellisssa Heerman (R-Brookings) was a first-time leggie and HB1251 was her first bill. And what a victory! I’ve been meaning to write more about South Dakota, and now that the legislative season is pretty much over until next year, I hope to have time to talk to Gretchen about how she pulled it off  She is an inspiration to us all!

The bill did not get much media play when it passed. We hope something will show up in the press now. If you are a South Dakota adoptee and receive your OBC, please forward a picture of yourself with your OBC and a few words about how you feel.

Other States

We have had other victories this year, too. Iowa and Oregon passed bills that allow adoptees to amend their OBCs to add the name of a “missing parent”  (usually their father) to their Original Birth Certificate with certain stipulations.

Iowa requires a sworn affidavit from a bio parent along with “substantiating evidence” that the person is the parent of the adoptee. If the parent is deceased an affidavit from a personal representative or trustee in relation to the parent is required, Effective July 1, 2023

Oregon requires that the request for the addition be approved through an administrative determination of paternity or parentage. DNA evidence, and a $100 filing fee. Like South Dakota, this was a constituent bill.  One person can make a difference, this time: Ann Weaver Melendy from Salem. Effective January 1, 2024

• Bastard Nation Iowa State Page
• Bastard Nation Oregon State Page

Coming Up! 

Minnesota

• Bastard Nation Minnesota State Page
• Minnesota’s Equal Rights Law: A FAQ (Adoptee Rights Law Center)

On July 1, 2024, Minnesota will unseal the OBCs of all Minnesota-born adoptees. without conditions or restrictions, at the age of 18. The bill, which has been introduced several times, was placed in a large omnibus bill at the late second after much negotiation, passed on the last day of the regular session, and signed into law on May 24, 2023.

The state’s OBC and related adoption records laws were complex and confusing, enacted over and on top of each other for decades, and we feared that Minnesota would be one of the last states to fall.  The endurance and perseverance of the Minnesota Coalition for Adoption Reform, and the hard work of Minneapolis-based Greg Luce, Founder and Director of the Adoptee Rights Law Center and retired St Paul attorney Jim Hamilton, who has worked to restore adoptee rights in the state for years, cut the Gordian knot. The bill was also supported by Bastard Nation, Adoptee Rights Law Center, Adoptees United, American Adoption Congress

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Some states didn’t make it through the process this year, but  Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are still in the running, and certainly, Georgia will be back next session. And, we will never forget Texas, where each session the votes to pass are there, but the bill is held hostage in Austin by the Donna Campbell-Dan Patrick-Ken Paxton Mafia. Bastards are Forever. The Austin Mafia is not.

 

Bastard Nation 2023 Legislative Page

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When Bastard Nation started on this long and winding road in 1997 only two states were open–Kansas and Alaska –because those states had the fortitude to never seal them.  When Helen Hill and BN took the issue to the people of Oregon with M58, adoptee rights and reform groups told us we, by demanding no compromise, accepting no left-behinds, and doing what we said we would, were taking the adoptee rights movement back 20 years–even though those groups had done nothing to move it forward during the past 20 years they were at it. We are proud to say that OBC access with no restrictions and conditions, is now the accepted–and successful–strategy. Leaving no one behind is a winner.