Update
Senator Troy Carter—the sponsor of Louisiana SB392—has requested that the bill be deferred from current action in the Senate Judiciary A Committee. He replied to the many advocates who had written or contacted him, stating:
I am very interested in working with the adoption community. I will defer action on Senate bill 392 so I can address many of the concerns brought to me by interested stakeholders. I totally respect and understand the sensitivity of this issue.
Senator Troy A. Carter, Sr.
Louisiana, 7th District
The committee met for hearing this morning. SB392 was immediately deferred.
A Louisiana senate committee has placed a terribly restrictive bill on its agenda at the last minute. It is currently scheduled to go to hearing tomorrow morning, April 24. We need help in getting word out to oppose this bill, which would in part do the following:
- Require participation in the Louisiana state adoption registry as a prerequisite to releasing an original birth certificate. If a parent is not registered, no OBC is released.
- Mandating psychological counseling in order to participate on the registry and thus request your original birth certificate. Louisiana would be the first state to link psychological counseling to the release of an OBC.
- Allow birthparents, if they are registered, to prohibit the release of any identifying information, including the OBC.
- Allow siblings, if they are registered, to prohibit the release of any identifying information, including the OBC. This would be the first and only birth sibling disclosure veto in the country.
Again, unless a birth parent is registered with the Louisiana state adoption registry and also affirmatively consents to release information—and no birth sibling also objects to that release— the adult adoptee will not receive a copy of the OBC. The full text of the bill is here.
What You Can Do
Contact the sponsor and the senators on the Judiciary A Committee and respectfully ask that the committee recommend DO NOT PASS for SB392. Also contact Senator Troy Carter (email: [email protected] or @TROYSEE) sponsor of the bill, and ask him to withdraw the bill from consideration. You can do this in any number of ways, including
- By email. Emails for each committee member, as well as the committee’s general email address, are listed below. A sample message is also provided.
- Engage on social media. Share one of the images below on social media and tag one of the senators who use social media (though many do not). Ask respectfully in your message that the senator oppose SB392 as it comes before the committee for hearing.
- Share this video, which is relevant for this issue, as the bill would for the first time in the country REQUIRE psychological counseling for an adult adoptee who seeks an OBC.
Sample Message
Dear Senator:
Please recommend DO NOT PASS on SB392, which is before the Judiciary A Committee. The bill is a complicated attempt to regulate private family affairs and personal birth records, including requiring counseling of anyone who seeks a copy of their own birth certificate. It also gives power to birth siblings to prohibit the release of an individual’s own birth record. No law in this country gives rights over one’s own personal records to a sibling. The bill is badly drafted, complicated, and will only add taxpayer expense and constituent confusion in attempting to regular people’s private affairs. I ask that you recommend DO NOT PASS on SB392.
Email Address Lists
Simple List
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Gmail/Comma-separated Emails
[email protected]a.gov,[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected]
Social Media Accounts
Facebook
Senator Troy Carter (Sponsor) https://www.facebook.com/troy.c.carter.7
Senator Wesley Bishop https://www.facebook.com/senatorwesleybishop/
Senator Jack Donahue https://www.facebook.com/SenatorJackDonahue/
Senator Ryan Gatti https://www.facebook.com/senatorryangatti/
Senator John Milkovich https://www.facebook.com/johnmilkovichforsenate/
Senator Rick Ward III https://www.facebook.com/RickWardIII/
Senaror Jay Luneau https://www.facebook.com/JayLuneauforSenate/
Twitter
@wjluneau @john_milkovich @TROYSEE
Full Addresses
Judiciary A Committee
P.O. Box 94183
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
(225) 342-6192
[email protected]
Senator Rick Ward, III (Chairman)
3741 Highway 1
Port Allen, LA 70767
(225) 246-8838
[email protected]
Senator Jay Luneau (Vice-Chairman)
711 Washington Street
Alexandria, LA 71301
(318) 484-2288
[email protected]
Senator Wesley Bishop
7240 Crowder Blvd.
Suite 402
New Orleans, LA 70127
(504) 242-4198
[email protected]
Senator Jack Donahue
P.O. Box 896
Mandeville, LA 70470
(985) 727-7949
[email protected]
Senator Ryan Gatti
2123 Shed Road
Bossier City, LA 71111
(318) 746-0861
(844) 824-6937
[email protected]
Senator Daniel “Danny” Martiny
131 Airline Drive
Suite 201
Metairie, LA 70001
(504) 834-7676
[email protected]
Senator John Milkovich
656 Jordan Street
Shreveport, LA 71101
(318) 676-7877
[email protected]
Images to Use
Use any of these images if you want but make sure you get your own message across on Twitter and Facebook.
Gregory, I am trying to get Louisiana to recognize siblings in an adoption. What is your position on giving natural siblings standing (currently, only Birthparents and prospective adopting family have standing) and how would this impact the OBC conversation?
Good question. Do you mean standing as a party or interested person at the initiation of an adoption? Or in relation to post-adoption issues, such as being able to find siblings who have been adopted?