ACLU - Washington State Chapter
705 2nd Ave #300
Seattle, WA 98104-1799
via e-mail and facsimile
Attn: Mr. Doug Klunder
Mr. Jerry Sheehan
Dear Sirs,
It is with some dismay that I learned today that the ACLU-Washington has decided to lobby against SB 6496 and HB 2810, which would open original birth certificates to adult adoptees in the state of Washington.
The ACLU adopted a policy in 1987 of supporting adoptees' and birth parent's right of free association and to equal protection under the law. The national "rights of the adopted person states in part: "...... the ACLU believes that laws suppressing information about adoptees and/or their birthparents, and laws allowing access to such information only upon consent or registration, or laws allowing access to such information only upon court order, deny adopted persons, their birthparents, and their relatives the equal protection of the laws and constitutes unwarranted interference by the government with the right of people to choose whether to associate."
Your own website states that you "staunchly support every person's right to make personal decisions - without government interference - about religion, abortion, marriage, and other family and lifestyle matters."
Why then this sudden about-face?
I am an adult adoptee. I reunited with my birth family last year, and my birth mother was thrilled to meet me, despite the fact that my conception was the result of a rape. She recalls no guarantee of confidentiality by the agency which handled the relinquishment; on the contrary, they told her that she would never be allowed to know who I was. This denial of her role in providing me with life caused her great pain and suffering.
The legislation currently being heard in the Senate and House is important to uphold the civil rights of adult adoptees, specifically our right to equal treatment under the law. It will not infringe on the rights of birthparents, rather it will correct an injustice by which birth parents have been afforded special protection, whether they wanted it or not. A birth parent who does not wish to have a continuing relationship with a contacting adoptee has every right to say "no." But case law from the Court of Appeals in Tennessee says that they do not have the right to remain anonymous.
All we ask is that we be treated equally, as adults, with the right to know our family origins as other Americans do. After all, this is the country that promises its citizens equal standing and protection under the law. We are mature individuals, capable of handling our interpersonal relationships without interference from the government.
Current adoption practices have the effect of freezing adoptees and birthparents in time. The adoptee is forever an infant who must be 'protected' from the stigma of their illegitimacy; the birth mother is forever a helpless teenager who cannot stand up for herself and make adult decisions.
We are not children and teenagers. We are adult citizens and deserve to be treated as such. Anything less is infantilizing and a violation of our constitutionally guaranteed rights.
I hope you will reconsider your position on this issue. When I first became involved in the fight for open records, I thought the ACLU was on my side, from everything I read and everything I heard. I am so disappointed to find out that you do not support civil rights for American citizens.
Sincerely,
Mary Hunt-Scoville
address
Phone
cowgirl@seanet.com
cc: American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004-2400
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