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Last updated on March 18, 2020

I Wrote to Governor Herbert. You Should Too

State legislative efforts in the U.S. are pretty much dead—except maybe one thing: convincing Utah Governor Gary Herbert to veto HB345, a discriminatory and regressive bill that just passed the Utah legislature.

I wrote Governor Herbert today. I urge you to do so too. Here’s his address and contact information and the text of the letter I sent. More information about the bill is here.

Contact Information

The Office of Governor Gary R. Herbert
350 North State Street, Suite 200
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220
Twitter: @GovHerbert

Please note that Governor Herbert is an adoptee. His step-father adopted him when he was a young child.

Letter to Governor Herbert

March 18, 2020

The Office of Governor Gary R. Herbert
350 North State Street, Suite 200
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220

RE: Veto Request for HB345

Dear Governor Herbert:

I ask that you veto HB345, the Personal Records Amendments bill, when it is transmitted to your office for consideration.

I am an adoptee and the founder of Adoptee Rights Law Center, a law firm and nationally-recognized resource for adoptee rights, whether those rights involve identity, vital records, or US citizenship. I joined with the American Adoption Congress and other adoption reform organizations to oppose HB345 (as amended). The bill represents a regressive approach to adoption practices and denies a right all adults should have: the right to request and obtain your own vital record.

HB345, as passed by the legislature, does not reflect best practices in adoption, discriminates against adoptees who are adults, and operates to empower formerly abusive parents by giving them the ability to withhold the release of an adult adoptee’s own records.

HB345, as amended in the House and approved by both chambers, creates a new “power of permission” that birthparents can wield over their own grown adult children, namely release of the adult’s own vital record. For adoptees whose adoptions occurred after a parent’s rights were terminated for abuse or neglect, the bill perversely injects a significant legal and emotional right over former foster youth, creating a new right to deny adoptees’ requests to possess their own personal records. Moreover, the bill will ultimately incentivize the use of DNA registries and social media to “out” family members who deny consent, dispersing information about the adoption far more publicly than a simple and discreet disclosure of the records to the adult adoptee who requests them.

Legislation should reflect reality, not an outdated and impossible-to-enforce notion of secrecy in adoption. HB345, as passed, merely shifts the disclosure of personal information to the private sector and continues to treat human beings as government secrets.

We are not secrets. I urge you to veto HB345 when it arrives on your desk for consideration.

Best regards,

ADOPTEE RIGHTS LAW CENTER PLLC

Gregory D. Luce

Filed Under: Action Alerts, Latest News Tagged With: HB345, Utah

Gregory D. Luce

I am a Minnesota lawyer, DC-born adoptee, and the founder of Adoptee Rights Law Center PLLC. I've been practicing law in Minnesota state and federal courts since 1993. I also have a sense of humor.

Get Involved with Adoptees United Inc.

Logo of Adoptees United Inc.Did you find this post interesting? Then get involved nationally with Adoptees United Inc., a national tax-exempt non-profit organization dedicated to securing equality for all adult adopted people in the US. Find out more here, and join me and others in working for equality.

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I work hard to get the laws and facts straight in every state---and to keep them regularly updated. If you see something that's not quite right or doesn't fit your experience, let me know with either a quick comment or an email.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gina Milazzo says

    March 30, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    Each human being has the right to know where they came from.
    Each human being has the right to know their birth name, gentic heritage and medical history.

    As an adoptee, I understand the identity crisis and psychological damage it will cause the adoptee if not provided this information.

    Therefore, I beg you to grant adoptees access to their original birth certificates.

    Reply

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Adoptee Rights Law Center

The Adoptee Rights Law Center PLLC is an adoptee-focused legal practice founded by Gregory Luce, a Minnesota lawyer and D.C.-born adoptee.

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Legal representation limited to issues involving Minnesota law and federal immigration law.

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Adoptee Rights Law Center PLLC
PO Box 19561
Minneapolis Minnesota 55419
T: (612) 221-3947
E: [email protected]

Legal representation limited to issues involving Minnesota law and federal immigration law.

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Adoptee Rights Law Center PLLC
Gregory D. Luce
PO Box 19561
Minneapolis Minnesota 55419
T: (612) 221-3947
E: [email protected]

Legal representation limited to issues involving Minnesota law and federal immigration law.

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