Dear Governor Cuomo:
On behalf of Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization, I urge you to appoint Sen Tony Avella to the New York Department of Health work group formed to study the right of New York adoptees to access their original birth certificates (OBC). The group was established at your request along with your veto of the greatly flawed OBC “access” bill A5036B late last year; a bill, that if passed into law, would have continued restrictions on access for most New York adoptees and maintained adoptees’ second-class legal status.
S5169A, a clean bill sponsored by Senator Avella, is currently in the Senate Health Committee. If passed, it will grant all New York adoptees access their OBCs without restriction or conditions upon request. It is an important bill that is being watched closely by adoptee rights and adoption reform organizations and advocates across the country.
Bastard Nation is the largest adoptee civil rights organization in the United States, and we have a substantial New York membership. We are also a founding member of the New York Adoptee Rights Coalition. Both BN and the Coalition support Senator Avella’s S5169A.
The work group’s first meeting is scheduled for late this week, and a final report is due at the end of April.
It is essential that Senator Avella be a member of work group to represent the interests not only of the Coalition but all New York adoptees.
Thank you.
Marley Greiner
Executive Chair, Bastard Nation: the Adoptee Rights Organization
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New York Adoptee Rights Coalition
