Birth Certificate Challenged
“The oppressed should rebel, and they will continue to rebel and raise disturbance until their civil rights are fully restored to them and all partial distinctions, exclusions, and incapacitations are removed.” — Thomas Jefferson
Okay, we aren’t slaves, but we are oppressed in the basic sense of the word. We are denied our birth certificates and genetic history. Yep, I’m talking about adoptees.
Some states have opened records and allow adoptees to have their original birth certificates, not just a modified version, sometimes with false birthdates and birthplaces.
And now, New Jersey is looking to open records and a bill was submitted to give adoptees unconditional access to their records. Unfortunately, like a few states before them, the senate decided to impose a set of conditions on adoptees. Basically, biological parents have one year to file a veto to prevent their identity from beings shared basically denying the adoptee again. Again, a few people prevent others from the right of knowing their truth, because of a few falsehoods about protecting others rights to privacy. Image if today, the government suddenly told everyone in America that they could only get an amended birthcertificate (that some clerk had modified) and all originals were now sealed to protect the privacy of everyone else in the world. Image what you would do, what you would say, what you would feel?
Amazing that we are one of the few countries who still do this. We treat the buying and selling of children as big business. We sell children to families to fix them, or to replace a lost child, like to new pet.
Tonight I went to my son’s school Christmas presentation. To see these precious children singing about the birth of Jesus, was soulful in a word. Out of the mouth of babes. I guess in the end, I am glad that I have been lucky enough to meet at least one blood member of my family and to see at least one person in this world who looks like me.
To read the NJ bill:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2004/Bills/S1500/1093_R2.HTM
To read Bastard Nations take on this:
http://www.bastards.org/documents/conditional.html