PETITION ALERT
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Tim Monti-Wohlpart, a Windsor Terrace resident
and New York-born adoptee, has launched an urgent petition to advocate for the
human and civil rights of New York born adoptees who were placed via "closed"
adoptions. He and the more than 1,000
people who have already signed in support are appealing for a return to a
"CLEAN" version of the New York Bill of Adoptee Rights (A2901B).
To see the details of the Internet petition and sign it,
please visit
The preferred "CLEAN" version of the New York Bill of
Adoptee Rights would have given New York-born adult adoptees (18+) access to their
original birth certificates so that they could seek out their birth parents and confirm
their medical history and heritage.
Currently, when
adoptees appeal to courts for help with medical history, they are routinely denied.
Some have died.
Birth parents would have been able to complete
non-binding "contact preference" forms at any time to designate their openness to
contact from adoptees.
Unfortunately, the New York Bill of Adoptee Rights got amended last
June by the Assembly Codes Committee, which includes local District 44 Assemblymember James
Brennan.
The changes to the
bill include proposals for a bureaucratic, costly process, involving judges who
are on the record as being hostile to any adoption reform. That could result in redaction of original birth certificate information. Adoption rights advocates feel that the changes
made to the bill do not properly honor the human and civil rights of New York-born
adult adoptees.
Anybody from any location in the world can
consider and sign (and comment, if they wish) on this initiative. It is also possible to
keep your name from being posted publicly on the website if you choose,
though your name would be included in the initial petition delivery that
will likely take place by the end of next week (the week of April 25th).
Those who agree with the petition are
encouraged to sign it as quickly as possible for the best chance for your name to be counted in
the first petition delivery. Later
petition deliveries are possible, depending on how the appeal may progress
after a first delivery.
In addition to Assemblymember James Brennan, the bill's main sponsors--David Weprin (New York State Assembly - Queens) and Andrew Lanza (New York State Senate - Staten Island)--have been contacted and will receive the petition.
Tim Monti-Wohlpart plans to be present at Sean
Casey Animal Rescue on Saturday (April 23rd) and Sunday (April 24th), starting at 11:00 a.m. Tim would like the public to know that when a human being is
adopted in New York, they often receive less information about themselves than owners
receive about their own adopted pets.
You are invited to stop by to
discuss adoptee rights and meet with Tim. The rescue is at 153 E.
3rd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11218, between Caton Avenue and Fort Hamilton
Parkway. Tim thanks Sean Casey Animal Rescue for the
opportunity to be present there.
