Saturday, December 23, 2006

AN ARTICLE FROM DESMOINES IOWA

CLOSING ADOPTEES' RECORDS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

In today's society, information regarding personal status holds greater significance than ever. We are individualized by our Social Security numbers, our driver's licenses, bank and credit card accounts and our birth and medical records.This personal information must continue to be protected as intended by the Constitution. This protection is provided to every individual under the search-and-seizure clause of the Fourth Amendment: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures..."At the time of the Founding Fathers, what else could have been intended but that our personal information be regarded as "papers and effects"? It can only follow that "seizure" and denial of personal information from an adoptee in a closed-terminal adoption is unconstitutional.

Birth information and medical records are the property of both adoptee and birth parents. We cannot grant everyone but adopted individuals access to their vital information any more than we can say that everyone can vote but the Democrats, or that anyone can assemble with the exception of anti-war protesters. What do we say to the adoptee from a closed adoption faced with a life-threatening disease, unable to obtain hereditary information that might be life-saving?When the state withholds adoptee birth and medical records, the adoptees are singled out for unequal treatment in the seizure and availability of their personal records. This is in direct violation of the search-and-seizure clause of the Fourth Amendment as well as the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

- Kyle Solberg,

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Solberg is not the first person to notice this violation of the 4th amendment..."unlawful search and seizure of personal papers"'...

Adopted people and their natural parents have been saying this for decades..even in testimony before the government.

What needs to be said addtionally, is there is a violation that occurs when the papers are FALSIFIED.Because it is not only the seizure of the papers that is criminal..it is the falsification and issuance of a fake identity..designed to hide the adopted person from their natural family.

Lindafisk said...

I just do not understand why this is allowed to go on. It is unconstitutional and wrong and downright dangerous for people who need their medical history- why can't everyone see that we need our records?
I just don't understand why we cannot change the way things are done- it seems no one ever listens to us adoptees.