HB2056 PA

An open letter to those who will try to justify HB 2056 in PA. I have read that we don't understand because we were not there when they put in a clean bill and that they realized they wouldn't get the whole pie so they decided that they needed to get something for "most adoptees". I have also read that this is a "decent" compromise. Spare me.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. You don't need to be an "insider" to have a clue as to the legislative process. Putting in a clean bill that asks for "the whole pie" is no great feat, so stop patting yourselves on the back. Anyone can get a sponsor to submit a bill with minimal effort ~ it's how that bill comes out of committee and off the floor that counts. That is where the real work is done & most obviously, that is where this bill was such a failure. Decent? How can anyone call this bill decent? Not only have they screwed PA adoptees but they have taken a tool that many state groups are sucessfully using (the CPF) and turning it into a disclosure veto. That is the biggest slap in the face to those of us who have worked so hard to get clean bills passed. What part of the word "preference" don't they understand? A contact preference is just that...a preference. Now they have interchanged it with "veto" and pretend that they are one and the same! I get so angry when I read such ridiculous, self justifying posts. Look, they sold everyone out so don't try to tell us that "we don't understand" or "our state is different" or "this will help most adoptees" ...... we DO understand & that's why we are all so angry. We understand that you could have withdrawn your bill, we understand that you could have asked to have your bill killed, we understand that you took the easiest way out, we understand that you tried to sell us a crock of baloney with your veto dressed up in CPF clothing and most of all, we understand perfectly well that you sold out adoptees. We understand.

DICTATORSHIP! DISCRIMINATION! (NON)DISCLOSURE! Ontario's Bill 183 Passes

From Anita Field:

OH. MY. GOD.

Ontario Bill 183 passed yesterday, November 1, 2005. It comes complete with a contact veto ($50,000 fine for any violation) and a disclosure veto which can be obtained by showing that disclosure of information will cause harm.

DICTATORSHIP! DISCRIMINATION! DISCLOSURE!

DICTATORSHIP
Dalton McGuinty, the Premier of Canada, commented to the press about the new bill: "We're saying to people `You've got a right to know but you don't have the right to a relationship."'

Premier Dalton McGuinty also said that Bill 183 “...allows information to be released while also giving people the tools they need to maintain their privacy.”

"We believe that we struck the right balance," McGuinty declared.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

DISCRIMINATION
Bill 183 contains both a contact veto, carrying a $50,000 fine for violation and a disclosure veto to be gotten by showing that disclosure of information will cause harm.

"If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your neighbors. There is no other." - Carl Schurz


DISCLOSURE
Phooey! That’s what THEY say. Bill 183 is a NON-DISCLOSURE bill because it allows adult parties to an adoption to put a lid on the release of information. In my dictionary, disclose means to expose or reveal information - not to hide or prevent the flow of information.

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive!" - Sir Walter Scott

I SAY: STAMP OUT DICTATORSHIP! DISCRIMINATION! (NON)DISCLOSURE