California Adoptee Rights

An Adoptees United resource for information about California legislation

Legislation

SB1274 Is Dead

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The following information went out this morning to supporters of SB1274 who signed up for legislative updates.

This morning I confirmed with Sen. Eggman’s staff that SB1274, the equal rights birth record bill in the Senate, has been pulled from further consideration this session. This means that the bill is no longer considered active, and it will not move forward. Legislative action to secure equal rights for all California-born adult adopted people is effectively over for 2024.

Members of the two committees scheduled to hear the bill continued to raise issues with “birthparent privacy” in relation to the release of an adopted person’s own birth record. Sen. Eggman realized that there was no viable way to move the bill forward without damaging amendments. It’s a solid and necessary decision that her office made, but the outcome is obviously disappointing.

More information may available as we all learn more.

The 2009 Bill

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California AB372 was ultimately a bad bill, and parts of it have now popped up in AB1302, today’s pending discriminatory bill.

History of AB372

DateActionDocument
Feb. 23, 2009Introduced in the Assembly (Rep. Fiona Ma)
Mar. 26, 2009Amended to restore a right to the OBC at age 25
Apr. 21, 2009Amended to gut equal rights provisions
Apr. 24, 2009Bill analysis (as amended on April 21, 2009)
Apr. 28, 2009Voted do pass: 10-0, as amended
May 7, 2009Amended to add two provisions (see below)
May 12, 2009Bill analysis (as amended on May 7, 2009)
Jan. 31, 2010 Died in Appropriations Committee

As Introduced (FEBruary 23, 2009)

Assembly Member Fiona Ma introduced AB372 in February 2009. As introduced, it loosened current law only slightly. It otherwise would still require a court petition to request your own birth record, with discretion of the court to deny the request.

As First Amended (March 26, 2009)

The first amendment eliminated prior provisions and set the age to request an informational copy of the OBC to 25. The copy would be provided by the State Registrar upon request. AB372 also created optional birthparent contact preference and medical information forms which did not impact the release of the OBC.

As Amended (APRIL 21, 2009)

The next amendment gutted the prior restoration of a right to the OBC and replaced it with a complicated notice requirement to birthparents, nearly identical to the notice requirements contained today in AB1302. Birthparents must be notified of the change in the law and are given the right to veto the release of the OBC. The OBC would not be released if the birthparents listed on the record did not receive the notice or the birthparents listed vetoed release. If two birthparents were listed on the OBC and only one objected to release, the identifying information of the objecting parent would be redacted. Slightly different but otherwise discriminatory provisions also applied to adoptions finalized after January 1, 2010, including two separate forms sent to birthparents, one to object to release of the record and one to use in the even they wish to revoke a prior objection to release.

Final Amendments (MAY 7, 2009)

Final amendments added two provisions to the existing bill: 1) requiring certified or registered mail, restricted delivery for the notices sent to birthparents; and 2) releasing the OBC if all birthparents listed on the record are deceased and “as verified by the Office of Vital Records.” The bill later died in committee.

Supporters

Only one organization supported AB372 and its discriminatory provisions:

California Adoption Reform Effort (CARE)

Opposition

Four organizations opposed the discriminatory versions of the bills and their restrictions:

Bastard Nation
Bay Area Birthmothers Association
California Adoptive Parents For Open Records
California Open
Ethica

One organization and ten registered individuals supported the equal rights version of the bill (March 26, 2009):

American Adoption Congress

Two organizations opposed the equal rights version of the bill (March 26, 2009):

Academy of California Adoption Lawyers
Family Law Section of the State Bar