April 16, 2010

Action Alert HB 5428 Adoption Anonymity Bill




The Illinois General Assembly certainly keeps us on our toes...

Hot on the heels of our defeat of "Illinois FOCA," there is a new bill in the Illinois Senate that is threatening adoption in our state. We need your help fighting this bill NOW.

The bill, HB5428, strips parents of the anonymity they were promised when they gave up their babies for adoption.

For decades, it was understood that records like original birth certificates containing the names of birth parents were "sealed" by the courts to protect the parents' confidentiality.

HB5428 would allow adult adoptees to obtain their original birth certificates without the consent of the birth parents.

Why is this such a bad idea?

It's simple: without that guarantee of anonymity, many parents will decide against adoption and choose abortion instead.

Illinois pregnancy resource centers have stated that anonymity is one of the biggest worries for mothers considering adoption. They want to know that once they choose adoption, they can move on with their lives.

In states and countries that have stripped away this guarantee of anonymity, adoption rates have plummeted. We can't let that happen here in Illinois!

But we have to act TODAY. You can help by doing TWO THINGS:

1. CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW to send a message to your state senator, urging a NO vote on HB5428:

     http://tinyurl.com/StopHB5428

2. CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR at his or her Springfield and district offices with the message "Protect adoption in Illinois: Vote NO on HB5428!" Get the phone numbers here:

     http://tinyurl.com/FindStateSen

If we act now, we can stop this bill and score another victory, just like we did with "Illinois FOCA." Thanks for taking the time to do your part.

Publish Date: April 16, 2010
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Illinois Federation for Right to Life
2600 State Street, Suite E
Alton, IL 62002

Phone: 618-466-4122
Fax: 618-466-4134
Web: www.ifrl.org