Equal Access for Adoptees

Dear Editor,
    Senate Bill 714 allows adoptees to obtain their original birth certificates without a court order if the parents listed on the certificate are deceased. Every doctor visit starts out with the question, "What health problems are in your family?" Adoptees would like to be able to answer this question. More than 95% of birth parents desire contact with their adult children, and open records decrease abortion and does not decrease the number of children placed for adoption. Then why does Sen. Donna Campbell, M.D., oppose this bill? As an adoptive mother, one would think she would want her child to have all the rights of every other U.S. citizen to know potential health risks. Neither Alaska nor Kansas ever closed records, and Texas only did so in the Seventies. With knowledge comes action, and many states are restoring equal access to adoptees based upon studies which reflect that there are no adverse reactions to doing so. Please contact Sen. Campbell and urge her to reverse her stand on this issue.