Legislative Watch

Fall 2000

Canada:

Ontario:

MPP Marilyn Churley is likely going to withdraw Bill 108 (which has a contact veto) since it will be hard to get it passed in the short fall session.

United States:

California:

California Open 2000 is holding organizational meetings throughout the state of California. To learn more and to join the mailing list vist the California Open 2000 website at http://www.ryzome.com/Open2000/ or email open2000@ryzome.com

New York:

Two judicial committees in New York State are currently reviewing the state's sealed records laws and are expected to make recommendations to the Office of Court Administration in sometime October, 2000. Based on these recommendations, addressing adoption records access could become part of the Court's legislative agenda for the next legislative session.

Washington:

Washington State Open 2001 seeks to restore adoptee rights to Washington-born adult adoptees through the ballot initiative process, as was done in Oregon. To get involved, visit http://www.absnw.com/open2001/ or email open2001@absnw.com

Federal Level: Washington, DC:

Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 passes. Bastard Nation is pleased to announce that the United States Senate enacted the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 and ratified the Hague Convention in Respect of Intercountry Adoption on Wednesday, June 20, 2000. The Hague Convention is an international treaty that establishes a global regulatory framework for what has been, up until now, the wild-wild-world of intercountry adoptions. The Act empowers the U.S. government to participate in this regulatory framework and provides specific protections for the rights of American adoptees placed on countries other than their country of birth.

A Bastard Nation legislative team has been working since the summer of 1999 to ensure that the rights of intercountry adoptees are upheld and respected by the U.S. government. We were successful. Specifically, as enacted, the Act requires that the U.S. government to preserve the adoption records of intercountry adoptees, and it also provides that such Federally-controlled records (maintained by the Department of State) will remain accessible to adult adoptees. Individual states remain free to design their own policies concerning records under their control. Earlier versions of the legislation tried to permanently seal Federal adoption records and force the states to seal their records as well.

Bastard Nation's Special Adviser to the Executive Committee, Albert Wei, worked in close collaboration with Fred Greenman, the American Adoption Congress's legislative counsel and now a Bastard Nation member, and Maureen Hogan of AdoptAmerica Advocates throughout the drafting and lobbying process.