The Open Records Debate, Page 3
The PositionsFor purposes of this article, the many possible variations within each position have been distilled into three major groups.
PRO: For Open Records
What They Say
Those in favor of open records are advocating for the equal right of unrestricted access to original birth records for all adult adopted persons, i.e., the same right given to non-adopted adults.
- birthparent privacy is not an open records issue, since "open records" simply means access to the information, not a mandate for contact,
- open records are not a threat to adoptive parents, and
- instances of abortion will not increase with open records, among others.
Why They Say It
A synopsis of the main arguments supporting open records.
A separate class: This group believes that any form of restriction (court order only, vetoes, intermediaries, mutual consent, etc.) serves to separate adult adoptees as a "class" of people, and treats them not as adults but as children who need the supervision of others.
Secrecy implies shame: Adoption author Marcy Axness writes, in Painful Lessons, Loving Bonds: "If we didn’t find (adoption) so contemptible, so laced with shame, why would our laws be so vehemently constructed to protect everyone from the shame returning to their doorsteps?"
Fundamental right to know: Judge Wade S. Weatherford, Jr., Seventh Judicial Circuit Court, SC, said in a ruling on an adoptee’s petition to gain access to adoption records: "Mankind is possessed of no greater urge than to try to understand the age-old question: ’Who am I?’ ’Why am I?’... Those emotions and anxieties that generate our thirst to know the past are not superficial and whimsical. They are real and they are ’good cause’ under the law of man and God."
Major Players
For those interested in getting involved with advocacy for open records:
- American Adoption Congress
- Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
- Concerned United Birthparents
- Coalition for Open Records (COAR) Ontario
© Nancy S Ashe
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