Letters to the editor
Open records nothing new
Re your March 25 editorial, "Please, a little privacy": How dare you tell me what I am entitled to regarding my life?Of course, the people you interviewed are going to be against House Bill 2202. It would cause them to have to be accountable "after the sale," so to speak. Have you even done any research on this issue? From the looks of your editorial, I would assume not.
If you actually did some research, you would find statistics that support the complete opposite of what you are suggesting open [birth] records would do. In fact, in Kansas, which has always had open records, there are many, many instances of birth mothers crossing state lines to relinquish their children simply because there are open records.
You seem to think that open records are a bizarre or new thing. That is so untrue. Most civilized nations have open records.
What are your writers so afraid of regarding the truth in this matter? Why not interview someone on the other side, someone who was adopted, and get his or her opinion before you speak for both sides of this issue?
This bill does not give a 10-year-old, a 15-year-old, or even a 20-year-old access to the records. This bill gives an adult the right to know the most basic, most intimate details of his or her life. They are our records, and it is not the state's place to decide that just because I was adopted, I do not deserve to know.
We are not second-class citizens, nor are we children who need to be sheltered from the truth. Our birth records are simply this: paper. What we do with them should be our choice and no one else's. Please get both sides of an issue before you print such mindless drivel that only serves to lower the reputation of your newspaper.
SHANNA M. WELLS
Fort Smith
This article was published on Friday, April 2, 1999
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