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Bill to require adoption information in health classes seeks to expand students’ knowledge of options
Summary
Rep. Sellers presented HB 730 to require public high school and college health education to provide information about adoption, including types (open/closed) and resources; supporters emphasized waiting lists for adoptive families and the need to destigmatize adoption; some members asked the sponsor to remove AG enforcement language.
Representative John Sellers presented House Bill 730 to require that grades 9–12 (and college/community college students in certain circumstances) receive information about adoption during health education. Sellers said the bill is intended to give teens and young adults information about adoption as an option when an unexpected pregnancy occurs and to connect students with resources about adoption types (open and closed) and local services.
Sellers told the committee there are long waiting lists of prospective adoptive families and that educating students about adoption could provide additional options. He said the bill does not require a video; rather, it would require information sharing in class or clinics. He also said he is open to amending the portion that gives the attorney general enforcement authority; Representative Freeman asked the sponsor whether he would remove the attorney‑general enforcement clause and Sellers said he would be open to deleting it if the committee preferred.
Testimony included support from parents and adoptive and foster parents who described positive experiences with adoption and urged the committee to “de‑stigmatize” adoption and provide students with options and contacts for adoption services. Representative Paige Beauchampagne, a health‑care provider and sex‑education instructor, said clinics and health‑care providers already provide adoption information as part of comprehensive counseling and cautioned about creating barriers that might keep patients from seeking care.
Witnesses cited a U.S. Department of Health & Human Services figure mentioned in testimony that suggested over 1,000 children were in New Hampshire’s adoption system (testimony used the figure “over 1,000”); sponsors emphasized that providing information in schools could increase awareness of family‑building opportunities. The committee did not vote; sellers indicated he would work with stakeholders on language.
