BASTARD NATION ACTION ALERT: DO NOT PASS TEXAS HB 984
* * * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * * *
(Please Distribute Immediately and Widely)
Issued May 14, 2015
URGE THE TEXAS STATE SENATE
NO on HB 984
Bill Text: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/…/8…/billtext/html/HB00984I.htm
HB 984 (Rep. Deshotel/Sen. Creighton) having cleared the Senate State Affairs Committee (6-0), comes now to Second Read on the Texas Senate Floor. While the bill language is clean regarding adoptee access to their own original birth certificate, the accompanying Contact Preference Form is in reality a Contact Veto.
Section 2 and Section 3 of the bill would provide a birthparent a new affirmative right to “authorize” or “not authorize” contact, by their adult adoptee. The language of “prefer”, as utilized in Oregon, Alabama, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island, was lobbied OUT of this bill. By replacing this single word, the legislation undermines an adoptee’s right to due process and the equal protection of the law. Section 4 of the bill places limitation on the time frame (07.01.16) that a birthparent may change their mind or file a Contact Preference Form and a Medical History Form. After that date, it is in the discretion of the Registrar. Of further concern, for adoptions after 07.01.16, it is an adoption agency, not the Registrar, that issues and collects the forms. No language in the bill provides date for compliance and there is no oversight or penalty to an agency that fails to adhere to the law.
Contact vetoes can subject adoptees to civil and criminal penalties should they violate them. Ambiguity in the language of HB 984 could penalize adoptees who make contact with their biological parents, even if no contact veto is on file. The bill also fails to define contact, leaving adoptees even more vulnerable to potential punitive consequences should they attempt to contact any members of their birth family, even those who might well welcome it. This infringement on an adoptee’s right to freely associate strips all adoptees of dignity.
IMMEDIATELY write the members of the Texas State Senate to strongly urge them to “Do NOT Pass” HB 984. Write (TEMPLATE BELOW) and email lawmakers (CONTACT INFO BELOW) to urge them to stop the bill on the Senate Floor.
E-MAIL TEMPLATE
SUBJECT: Do NOT Pass HB 984
RE: HB 984
POSITION: VOTE NO
To the Honorable Members of the Texas State Senate,
I write today to STRONGLY URGE your Do NOT Pass vote on HB 984. I thank the author, Rep. Joe Deshotel, and sponsor, Sen. Brandon Creighton, for their efforts to introduce a bill with access rights for adult adoptees to their own original birth certificate. Unfortunately, the bill, in both Section 2 and Section 3, includes a Contact Veto in the guise of a “Contact Preference Form”. In reality, this language is an abomination of law born out of Oregon, and upheld by the State Supreme Court. Oregon’s Contact Preference Form language is law in Alabama, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island. HB 984 instead places an affirmative right to “not authorize” contact with and by a birth parent. Texas already has laws in place preventing an individual from stalking or harassing another. By singling out adoptees and creating what is essentially a restraining order without due process or cause, HB 984 unfairly and wrongly discriminates against adoptees. Moreover the vagueness of the language and terms surrounding the veto is likely to create bureaucratic confusion and abuse in enforcement of the veto.
I STRONGLY URGE YOUR NO VOTE ON HB 984. Thank you for your time and service.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
RAPID EMAIL CUT-N-PASTE
(Paste into your CC or BCC line and fire off one e-mail)
paul.bettencourt@senate.state.tx.us
brian.birdwell@senate.state.tx.us
konni.burton@senate.state.tx.us
donna.campbell@senate.state.tx.us
brandon.creighton@senate.state.tx.us
rodney.ellis@senate.state.tx.us
kevin.eltife@senate.state.tx.us
craig.estes@senate.state.tx.us
troy.fraser@senate.state.tx.us
sylvia.garcia@senate.state.tx.us
bob.hall@senate.state.tx.us
b.nation123@yahoo.com
kelly.hancock@senate.state.tx.us
juan.hinojosa@senate.state.tx.us
don.huffines@senate.state.tx.us
joan.huffman@senate.state.tx.us
lois.kolkhorst@senate.state.tx.us
eddie.lucio@senate.state.tx.us
jose.menendez@senate.state.tx.us
jane.nelson@senate.state.tx.us
robert.nichols@senate.state.tx.us
charles.perry@senate.state.tx.us
jose.rodriguez@senate.state.tx.us
charles.schwertner@senate.state.tx.us
kel.seliger@senate.state.tx.us
larry.taylor@senate.state.tx.us
van.taylor@senate.state.tx.us
carlos.uresti@senate.state.tx.us
kirk.watson@senate.state.tx.us
royce.west@senate.state.tx.us
john.whitmire@senate.state.tx.us
judith.zaffirini@senate.state.tx.us
For those needing commas in between addresses.
paul.bettencourt@senate.state.tx.us, brian.birdwell@senate.state.tx.us, konni.burton@senate.state.tx.us, donna.campbell@senate.state.tx.us, brandon.creighton@senate.state.tx.us, rodney.ellis@senate.state.tx.us, kevin.eltife@senate.state.tx.us, craig.estes@senate.state.tx.us, troy.fraser@senate.state.tx.us, sylvia.garcia@senate.state.tx.us,
bob.hall@senate.state.tx.us, b.nation123@yahoo.com,
kelly.hancock@senate.state.tx.us, juan.hinojosa@senate.state.tx.us,
don.huffines@senate.state.tx.us, joan.huffman@senate.state.tx.us,
lois.kolkhorst@senate.state.tx.us, eddie.lucio@senate.state.tx.us,
jose.menendez@senate.state.tx.us, jane.nelson@senate.state.tx.us,
robert.nichols@senate.state.tx.us, charles.perry@senate.state.tx.us,
jose.rodriguez@senate.state.tx.us, charles.schwertner@senate.state.tx.us,
kel.seliger@senate.state.tx.us, larry.taylor@senate.state.tx.us,
van.taylor@senate.state.tx.us, carlos.uresti@senate.state.tx.us,
kirk.watson@senate.state.tx.us, royce.west@senate.state.tx.us,
john.whitmire@senate.state.tx.us, judith.zaffirini@senate.state.tx.us
E-mail today! Your letters and phone calls DO make a difference!
New York Adoptee Rights Coalition
