Things to ConsiderObjection: Unwanted contact by the State or Adoptee triggers Post Traumatic Stress in women such as Kathleen. Solution: Provide a register for any woman/man or adoptee wishing contact. Objection: Non disclosure choice in current legislation requires women to provide very personal medical and family information under threat of exposure. Solution: Accept that a woman who requests non disclosure has a very valid reason for not wishing contact. The coercive requirement to provide information triggers Post Traumatic Stress. Solution 2: Many women (like my wife) were victims of rape and/or incest. Provide a fourth choice in which woman can report this fact and then be guaranteed non disclosure without having to provide any further information. This option is available in several other States already. Objection: Neither version of the legislation provides protection under the Domestic Violence law for women/men who placed a child through adoption. Neither do these people have protection from an adoptee who will not take “no contact” for an answer. If they attempt to file harassment charges they need to appear in court. This gives the adoptee what they want – face to face contact. Solution: Include women/men who placed a child for adoption in the protection of the Domestic Violence law. Additionally, allow persons protected under the non disclosure currently in the adoption laws to be represented by a “third party” in any court action necessary to protect them from an adoptee who will not take “NO” for an answer. Objection: The proposed legislation discriminates against a specific class of women. The women who gave birth under the promise (contract) of sealed records. Women who take advantage of the Safe Haven program are not forced to provide “any” information. Women who have abortions are not required to provide any information to the State. Solution: The State needs to stay out of the business of attempting to heal the tragic circumstances of some adoptees and the women who gave them life. These people already have enough pain in their lives, the State can not fix this, It can only provide false hope and devastating consequences to all involved. Promises (a contract either written or oral) were made to the women who chose adoption over abortion, either legal on not. These promises need to be honored. There are State constitutional questions pertaining to the State intervening into private contracts. My statement to the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Services Committee against S 799 on March 4, 2010. Good afternoon Senators, The last time I addressed you was in March of 2008. At that time I asked for compassion for the elder women who are being emotionally devastated by the very thought of adoption records being unsealed, let alone the destruction of the lives they have built, should this bill pass. Many of these women were juvenile victims of sexual assault. Many of the sealed confidential adoption records this bill threatens to open are those of female juvenile victims. Sexual assault is one of the most under reported crimes, with 60% still being left unreported1, 67% of all victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement were juveniles under the age of 18, 96% of child sex offenders were either related to the victim or were acquaintances. (2) My wife Kathleen was one of these young victims; raped and forced into compliance under the threat of sexual mutilation at the end of a knife. Bill S 799 under your consideration forces these women (many juvenile victims of sexual assault) into compliance under threat of exposure. Passage of this bill will trigger Post Traumatic Stress in many of these victims. I know this because of the impact it has already had on my wife Kathleen. It is incumbent on this committee, charged with the well being of Senior Citizens, to reject this bill.
|