Bill could enable access to birth info by adoptees BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer The state SenateHealth,Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee are unanimously supporting a bill that would grant adult adoptees the right to access their birth certificates. Under the bill (S611), an adoptee over 18 years of age or the adoptive parent of a child can request their birth certificate from the state registrar's office. The bill does allow some leeway for parents who gave up their children for adoption before the bill was passed. They have one year to request not to disclose their name or address on the birth certificate. Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer) found it to be a difficult, emotional decision as both he and his sister were adopted. However, only his sister had a desire to find her birth parents. "I am adopted and I see it from many perspectives," he said. "I do believe they have the right to have that information and I believe that passionately." Sen.DianeAllen,who sponsored the bill, agrees. "It's important that adults who were adopted have access to vitally important familymedical information," she said. "This kind of information could dramatically affect the quality of an adoptee's life if left undiscovered." However, Marie Tasy, the executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, believes that this bill is unfair. She said she is looking out for the rights of the mothers who give up their children for adoption to not be known. "Advocates [of the bill] don't believe the birth mother should have the right to have this decision," she said. "We are willing to strike up a compromise but the advocates are not." Pam Hasegawa, an adoptee and member of the New Jersey Coalition for Adoption Reform & Education, believes the advocates for the bill have already compromised. "We're compromising by allowing past birth parents to write a request to be honored for their name and address removal," Hasegawa said. Mutual Consent Voluntary Registries are also a hot topic. Some states, including New Jersey, give adoptees and parents the ability to find each other if they both want to. They can register at places like the International Soundex Reunion Registry, at www.ISRR.net. Information is computerized for each resident, and people are notified when amatching relationship is found. Tasy believes that since this is in effect in many states in the country, it should be tried on a national level. Again, Hasegawa disagrees. "It's a good idea, but it's a backup idea," she said. "It works for a few people. I think it's a 2 percent success rate. "Dead people don't register," she added. "Amother could be dead before the adoptee is old enough to apply for it." She also mentioned that New Jersey allows the adoptive parents to change the date of birth on the birth certificate to their hometown, making the registry even less useful because things would not match up. Some opponents have said that more parents will resort to abortion if their children will have the rights to their full birth certificate. However, Hasegawa says evidence is pointing in the other direction. In Alabama, a law was passed in May 2000 allowing access to birth certificates. According to a Guttmacher Institute poll, the abortion rates decreased by 16 percent from2000 to 2005. Oregon passed a similar law in 2000, and their abortion rates decreased by 25 percent in the same time period. The national average during this time period was a 9 percent drop. Also, Alaska and Kansas have never sealed birth certificates and have abortion rates below the national average. Baroni said he believes the bill will pass in the Senate.