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!
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On May 13, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed HF 855* a bill that restores the right of Iowa-born adoptees to their Original Birth Certificates. Only it doesn’t. The bill contains a redaction provision, cleverly and erroneously called a Contact Preference Form. This corrupt CPF ignores the “preference” part of its title, and acts as a Disclosure Veto that can allow biological parents to order the state to black out their names and other identifying information—possibly including the adoptee’s original name–on the document before it is released to “their” pesky bastard. In other words, the state is mandated to mutilate its own generated and held record to ease the comfort zone of a small subset of biological parents who just aren’t up to owning their parenthood.
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Under this obscene scheme, birthparents are granted a special right that no one else has–the right to require the state to remove identifying information from your state-generated and held birth certificate. In other words, the government, as a favor to a parent with a cramped comfort zone censors your own birth certificate turning it into mini- Mueller Report and rendering you invisible, even to yourself. This black-blocking is done under the rubric of “the most good for the most, people” ‘ or similar garbling. They forget to mention that once redactions (or their first cousin’ Disclosure Vetoes) are placed in law, no state has come back to remove them. Redactions create a permanent underclass of adoptees. Left behinds. But, hey! A state-mutilated OBC is better than no OBC! And, if you are really upset, you always go into therapy.
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The bill has been transmitted to the House, where it faces skeptical Republican leadership and may not even be brought up for consideration. We need to let the Iowa House of Representatives know that this bill does not work and should not be brought up for debate. We particularly need to get that point across to House Republican leadership.
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Bastard Nation is a proud partner organization in the New York Adoptee Rights Coalition, along with the Adoptee Rights Law Center and the Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York. Plus strategic partner Reclaim the Records
Bastard Nation is a proud partner in the Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition, along with Equality for Adoption, Gladney Adoptees for Rights and Equality, and the Adoptee Rights Law Center. Plus strategic partner Reclaim the Records