Liberal Party Supports Adoptee Bill of Rights

The Liberal Party today called for the immediate passage of the "Bill of Adoptee Rights", a bill that has been languishing in both the State Senate and the State Assembly for far too long.

Executive Director Martin Oesterreich stated: "This legislation acknowledges that the lifelong health and well-being of adoptees should be a State concern, and provides access to accurate and complete medical data. In addition, it provides an option for future contact for adoptees and birth parents, while respecting their needs for privacy. This long overdue legislation- Assembly Bill# a06238 and Senate Bill#S02631-will guarantee adoptees that they will have the information necessary to deal with genetic and inherited diseases by making information available at the earliest possible moment."

In furtherance of the legislation the bill also requires that the Governor establish a committee to oversee the implementation of the law, to be composed of adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoption professionals. In addition, the law requires that additional health information as gathered from or provided by birth relatives be made available to adoptees within ninety (90) days of receipt.

Martin Oesterreich reiterated that "This legislation is an issue of fundamental fairness to adoptees. It will ensure equal protection under the law by providing adoptees with access to necessary information that is provided or is available routinely to non-adoptee children. The legislation also provides that contact or non-contact preference information be maintained. The Liberal Party believes that this legislation provides the appropriate privacy conditions, while giving adoptees access to potentially life saving health information. We therefore urge the Legislature to act with all possible dispatch and pass this vital legislation."

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