jour d'élection!

I hope adoptees and those who love them used their vote today to further the cause of restoring the right of ownership to one’s own birth certificate. Adoptees are the only group of people to be, as a class, denied this very personal piece of identification and it is blatant, state-sponsored discrimination any way you look at it. A few states have realized this, a couple have always known, but most are like mine - gardien de Gestapo des dossiers work diligently to "protect" the three-in-a-hundred mothers (and, perhaps, as many adoptees) who wish to hide with no heed paid to the vast majority. Where’s the democracy in that? Laws already exist to protect the aforementioned minority should their privacy be invaded against their will, where are the laws to protect the majority who desire information of their own personal life?

At the very least, current laws should ensure the fair and equal treatment of all adult law-abiding citizens. Again, adoptees are the ONLY law-abiding, adult citizens to be, as a class, denied a copy of their own original birth certificate.

Thankfully, there are some exceptions. Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, and Oregon recognize the right of adopted people to be treated just like anyone else.

I just can't understand why the other 46 states haven't, unless they are simply being bought out. In many states, like mine, state senates instead of popular vote decide these laws, and educating lawmakers becomes paramount. Identifying and replacing lawmakers who oppose equality is also necessary and that is where our vote really counts – at the state level. I know who I voted for. I had the votes tally for the various versions of our Michigan open-records bill. I called and e-mailed offices with questions and voted against any who didn’t respond or who were pro closed-records. I only wish I could have voted in more districts. In lieu, I wish I had the funds to post newspaper ads across the state identifying opponents of equality.

The ACLU would be all over this, if its membership didn’t include so many attorneys making a killing off the infant adoption industry.

America, land of the free.

Enterprise, that is.