On June 15, 2022, Governor. John Bel Edwards signed HB 450--the bill that restores the right of all Louisiana-born adopted people to their Original Birth Certificates upon request, without restriction,.The House, voted 76-21 and the Senate 29-5. For Pete’s sake, Louisiana! Louisiana! If Louisiana can acknowledge, codify our rights, and pass a bill, then any state can!
Continue reading
Bastard Nation received this Call to Action today from the Louisiana Coalition for Adoption Rights. If you call under any of the categories below, please contact Louisiana Senators now! Anyone who’s ever lived in Louisiana- anyone who knows anyone in Louisiana should tell them to write in, anyone who knows an adopted person or parent who relinquished in Louisiana etc
Continue reading
There’s some terrific testimony from our friends Elise Lewis and Kenny Tucker from the Louisiana Coalition for Adoption Rights, who have been at it for years, the Louisiana Adoption Advisory Board, first mothers, adoptive mothers, and social workers, as well as bill sponsor Rep. Charles Owen and former lawmaker Danny Martiny sponsor of similar legislation in the past.
Continue reading
Adopted people in 11 states have unrestricted access to their OBC. Just a couple of weeks ago Vermont restored OBC rights and your neighbor Alabama restored that right 20 years ago. Not one single negative report about unsealing has been published. Access has been normalized. Adoptees are treated just like the Not Adopted and like the Not Adopted no one denies that they have a right to those records and information.
Louisiana adoptee rights activists need our help again. HB 450 passed the Louisiana House 76-21 on March 28, 2022, This is a clean bill. The bill is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee A on May 24. Below is the action alert Louisianas folks sent out today. At this point, they are asking for calls and emails from everyone –not just those with Louisiana connections to request DO PASS with no restrictive amendments added. If you have a Louisiana connection–Louisiana-born adoptee, resident, family, etc.–please include that information.
Continue reading
Tell the House to retain the original language of the bill– pass the bill as written Keep your letter short and concise. If you are a Louisiana-born adoptee tell them. If you are adopted, tell them. If you have a Louisiana connection, tell them. If you are a birthmother, tell them. Remember, this bill is about adoptee civil rights and the restoration of the right for all adopted people to obtain their own original birth certificates. It is not about search and reunion, claims of birthmother “confidentiality,” or abortion.
Continue reading
This morning, (March 21) the Louisiana House Committee On Civil Law and Procedure voted DO Pass on HB 450, a bill to restore the right of all Louisiana adoptees, at the age of 24, to obtain their original birth certificates upon request without restrictions or conditions. Due to the state’s “forced heir” law, peculiar to Louisiana, we are stuck with the age 24 timeframe, but all adoptees are covered. An attempt to amend the bill with restrictions was not accepted. We want to thank our friends Kenny Tucker (who btw, hosted BN’s 2002 conference in NOLA) and Elise Lewis for their hard work on this bill, and the bill’s sponsor Rep. Charles Owens…Below is our submitted testimony.
Continue reading
The New York Adoptee Rights Coalition For adoptees born outside of New York, but adopted in the state: We received an email from one of our contacts within the NYSDOH – New York …
Continue reading
Get involved with Bastard Nation's national and state-level advocacy efforts. Sign up or update your contact information here. We'll be in touch.
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