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Register for the Philadelphia Adoptee Rights Demonstration at AdopteeRights.net

Adoptee Rights Demonstration

11 am July 21, 2009

Philadelphia, PA

All Americans, adopted or not, have a right to access government records about their own lives. That’s why we are organizing an Adoptee Rights Demonstration, a rally and protest in Philadelphia, PA, at 11 AM on July 21, 2009. This rally will coincide with the opening day of the Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislators.

Adult adoptees in most of the advanced, industrialized nations of the world have unrestricted access to their original birth records as a matter of right. In contrast, adult adoptees in all but six states in the U.S. are forbidden unrestricted access to their own original birth certificates, due to archaic laws that are a legacy of a culture of shame that stigmatized infertility, out-of-wedlock birth and adoption.

Adult adoptees and their supporters have worked diligently in different states for decades to overturn these laws, but have been opposed by well-funded lobbies representing certain adoption agencies and lawyers who have a vested interest in keeping adoptee records closed. Their unsupported claims that access violates dubious privacy rights or will increase abortions and decrease adoptions have been categorically refuted by data from states with laws recognizing the rights of adoptees, by studies such as the recently published paper from the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and by court decisions affirming the constitutionality of access laws.

Please join us in Philadelphia as we fight to restore our dignity and equality! If you can’t attend the demonstration, you can still help. Participate in our writing campaign to inform all state legislatures of the urgency of unsealing our records to restore the equality of adoptees in the United States. Help spread the word about the protest on your blog, or to any groups or mailing lists you belong to.

Make a difference, be a part of history and get involved today!

Adoptee Rights Demonstration 2009 Your Rights -- Your Protest

Who are the defenders of the status quo in the adoption realm? When the major child advocacy and adoption organizations support equal access to records for adult adoptees, why do we still live (and die) under the sealed record in most of America's states? Who is paying full-time lobbyists and religious organizations to oppose the truth that sets people free? Visit the web pages below and find out.

This is a long news story in Mother Jones... Please everyone take the time to read it! It is an outrage!!!!!!!! Please note and comment!

This needs to stop!

A Must Read Outrage: ~School of Shock ~ visit site
Society & Culture  (tags: autistic, mentally retarded, emotionally troubled children, abuse, torture, legal torture, state supported, education? cruelty, electrodes surveillance cameras, privacy, unbelievable, violence, rights, safety, money, media, humans, law, interesting, gove )

Barb
- 4 minutes ago - motherjones.com