With one emotional plea, a single senator, Senator Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) managed to override the will of 30 other senators, public opinion, and years of work. House Bill 984 by Representative Joe Deshotel(D-Port Arthur), was put forth by local advocacy group, Texas Adoptee Rights, and would have restored access to original birth certificates for Texas-born adults, adopted as minors. Rep. Deshotel garnered unprecedented bipartisan support in the House and passed it to Senator Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) who diligently worked it through the Senate, also garnering bipartisan support from 30 senators, including 14 co-sponsors, all to no avail.
HB 984 enjoyed bipartisan support on the merits of what access legislation has done in other states. Restoring birth certificate access to adult adoptees most often results in lowered abortion rates for that state, which is why many pro-life groups are now signing on in support. The states that never closed access have the lowest abortion rates in the nation. HB 984 would have given adoptees access to vital medical history, along with the possibility to reconnect with biological family. The birth parent is given a voice through the contact preference form. This type of legislation has support from respected institutions such as The Donaldson Adoption Institute, The Catholic Conference of Bishops, The American Academy of Pediatrics, Family Tree DNA, and the National Adoption Center, just to name a few.
The Senator uses her personal experience as an adoptive mother to silence overwhelming public support. Her claims of speaking as an adoptive mother of four are somewhat clouded since three of her four children are her step-children, and not infant adoptions. They presumably have access to their medical histories, which is among the top reasons for aging adults to request access to family records.
The reality that the bill would not be recognized due to the stance of a lone senator based on outdated adoption myths, hit hard Tuesday night. People were stunned, inside and out of the Capitol, with people watching online from all across the country. Senator Campbell killed a bill with unanimous committee support in the House and the Senate State Affairs Committee, and would have easily passed in the Senate as it had passed the House, 138-1.
Last session a bill that would allow adult adoptees to access their original birth certificates if their birth parents were already dead, was also killed by Senator Campbell. In the committee hearing when discussing the legislation, she began by asking if contact was financially motivated “Why the need would a child want to go back and find, for financial reasons? That they should be allowed something…?” She repeated the statement “fail to see the value” and later continued objections, saying “This to me slaps in the face...of how the adoptive parent would like to raise these children up in talking about things” Adoptee Advocate, Connie Gray reminded Senator Campbell in her testimony that as minors, of course the parents are the authority but, “We do grow up, and we have our own rights to our own records.” Video can be viewed here: http://tlcsenate.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=9&clip_id=810 beginning at 51:00
Today 90% of Texas adoptions are considered to have some form of openness, allowing current adopted children access to vital medical history and genealogy. HB 984, would have granted that right to adults who were party to closed adoptions, rectifying this inequity between the generations, allowing all Texas adoptees access to this critical and self-affirming information.
