On an otherwise bleak and discouraging news day, a ray of sunshine streaked across AdoptionLand as Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed H629, the bill that restores the right of all Vermont-born adopted people to their Original Birth Certificates. No restrictions! No conditions!
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On Thursday, April 14, 2022, the Vermont House voted to concur with Senate amendments on H 629. The bill now goes to Governor Phil Scott for his signature. thus making Vermont the 11th state to recognize and affirm the right of all adopted people (in Vermont at age 18) to obtain their original birth certificates without restrictions or conditions. There is no reason to believe that Scott will not sign it.
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In a remarkable turn-around the Vermont House today passed HB 629 .a bill that restores the right of all Vermont-born adoptees to obtain their Original Birth Certificates without restrictions or conditions. The bill also separates OBC access from the Adoption Registry, and does away with Disclosure Vetoes regarding OBC access currently on file. This is the first time that we know of where a restricted bill transformed into a clean bill and passed. The vote was 149-1.
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Bastard Nation is happy to announce that we have joined the New England Adoptee Rights Coalition (NEAR) as a core member. Other core members are the Vermont Adoptee Rights Working Group and Adoptee Rights Law Center…Tomorrow, (March 9, 2022) the Vermont House Judiciary Committee will hold probably its last hearing on HB629 and a vote should be taken.
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Bastard Nation and its members oppose HB629 as written due to its discriminatory treatment of Vermont-born adoptees. While the bill does away with its date-based “permission slip” (birthparent consent for release) it retrains the substance of that restriction by allowing birthparents to veto the release of the document. The bill, therefore, does not restore the right of Vermont adoptees to obtain their own birth certificates without restriction or condition. The bill, in fact, codifies favors for some over inclusive rights for all. It maintains the current sealed and secret adoption system established 75 years ago by the Vermont legislature at a time when adoption and adoptees were considered shameful—or at best, something to not be discussed in public.
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This week the Vermont House Judiciary Committee held two hearings on HB629. These hearings, according to an email l received today from a committee staffer, were not real hearings but information-gathering sessions featuring adoption “experts.” These experts were limited to adoption attorneys and adoptacrats. (Adoption agency liability looms large in their imagination). The chair of the committee apparently does not view The Adopted as experts on our own lives and the abrogation of our own rights and barred all adoptees from giving oral testimony. As one astute activist tweeted today: If there are no adoptees speaking, there are no experts…Action Alert: NEED HELP ASAP with VT legislation. If you have the spoons and time today, would you please send a SHORT email to the VT House Judiciary Committee demanding they give a seat at the table to an actual adoptee (ME) to testify regarding proposed bill H629 (information follows)
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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