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Committee advances bill to give pre-2022 adoptees access to birth records with contact protections
Summary
The Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee voted to send House Bill 47 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation. The bill would allow adoptees adopted before July 1, 2022, to request birth records after they turn 18 while preserving a notification-and-redaction process for birth parents.
The Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee on Feb. 26 advanced House Bill 47 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation, sending the measure on despite one recorded no vote in committee.
House Bill 47 would allow persons adopted before July 1, 2022, to request their original birth records once they reach age 18. The bill preserves an initial notification step by the Department of Vital Statistics to the birth parent, and gives that parent the option to request that their name be redacted for up to five years or to stipulate how they prefer to be contacted.
"This legislation is not about imposing any course of action on any adoptee or any birth parent," Representative Julianne Young said in testimony. She described the bill as offering a "reasonable, common sense option that respects both the interests of the adoptee and also the concerns of the birth parents." Young recounted the case of a woman who lost track of a child placed for adoption in 1968 and said the bill could allow adoptees and birth parents to reconnect.
Representative Barbara Ehart, a co-sponsor, said the proposal balances adoptees' access to medical and family history with protections for birth parents. "With the exception of the name of the birth parent, which would be redacted, this would open up that information for the adoptee to have access to," Ehart said, describing the five-year redaction option and the agency notification process.
Committee questions focused on how the notification and redaction process would operate and on whether birth parents could be confident of permanent anonymity. Senator Wintrow said she might vote no on the motion in committee because she wants more assurance that a birth parent's identity could be permanently withheld; Wintrow asked whether a parent would be contacted every five years and expressed concern about the need to maintain up-to-date contact information with the adoption registry. Representative Young and Representative Ehart clarified that the Department of Vital Statistics contacts the registered parent only after an adoptee requests records and that the five-year redaction is available as an option.
The committee motion to send the bill to the floor passed by voice vote with one recorded no: Senator Nicole Wintrow was recorded as voting no in committee. The motion was made by Senator Dave Lent and seconded by Senator Ricks.
