Adoptees OBC Updates

 

Two Good, Two Bad, Two More

One Good. We mentioned South Dakota’s equal rights bill last week.
We have some additional fantastic news. HB1231 yesterday passed the
Senate, and it will be transmitted to Governor Kristi Noem soon, who is
widely expected to sign it into law.  Once enacted, it goes into effect
on July 1, 2023, restoring the right of all South Dakota-born adult
adopted people to apply for and obtain their own original birth
certificates. That is, apply, pay a few bucks, get it.

Two Good.
Georgia’s SB64 got over its first legislative hurdle yesterday,
receiving a unanimous DO Pass recommendation from the Senate Children
and Families Committee. It heads to a vote now by the full Senate, which
has to occur no later than March 6. Sign up with the Georgia Alliance for Adoptee Rights if you want to stay informed or get involved.

Two Bad.
The bad news comes from two bills pending in West Virginia and
Mississippi, though the bills are still far from being enacted. As we
produce this newsletter the West Virginia bill has
been passed by the Senate and is headed for the House. It has a whole
host of problems, including educational requirements, redactions, and
your mom’s permission to get your OBC.

Mississippi’s bill is a bit more complicated
because, while at one point it was a bad bill, it is now a completely
different and unrelated bill, thanks to a maneuver called a “strike
all.” It may be dead because of the strike all, but then again the
Mississippi legislature has not yet uttered the magic words to truly
signify the end of a bill: dead, dead, dead.

Two More. A pair of Texas bills are seeking to prohibit citizens of certain countries from purchasing property in the state.
While dumb and unconstitutional, they are scheduled for hearings
tomorrow in the State Affairs Committee. The kicker? The bills would
ultimately prohibit green card holders—including intercountry adoptees who do not currently have US citizenship—from
purchasing property in Texas, specifically if they were born in Russia,
China, or Iran. It’s yet another painful reminder of how intercountry
adoptees continue to be marginalized by United States policy, a
marginalization that is getting worse in anti-immigrant states like
Texas.

Mapping the Life Course of Adoption Project Launch and Survey.
Adoption professionals all agree that adoption is life long -- and no
one knows this better than adoptees. And yet, our collective knowledge
about the life course of adoption does not exist. This is what the MAP
project is seeking to change.