A Message from the PA Catholic Conference:
Adoption is a loving and life-affirming choice, and each adoption decision is unique and different.
Some birth parents may choose an open adoption, wherein adoptees and birth parents can communicate if both sides agree. But some women in crisis pregnancies choose to carry the baby to term with the understanding that their identity will remain private. For example, rape victims have been guaranteed anonymity in the adoption process in the past. This simple fact helped countless women choose life. If you know someone facing an adoption decision, visit www.adoptionpa.org.
House Bill 162 would require the Pennsylvania Department of Health to provide a summary of an adoptee’s birth record without the consent of the birth parents. The law already allows an adoptee to obtain medical records, but HB 162 would release the names of birth parents, even if there had been a promise of anonymity provided long ago.
The PCC cannot support HB 162 because it imposes a unilateral approach to identifying information for adoptees without respect for the concerns of others involved. Send a message today to your state Senator: urge him or her to oppose legislation like HB 162 that does not respect all parties involved in adoptions.
Click the link below to log in and send your message:
https://www.votervoice.net/link/target/pacc/MJ2W5F2Gi.aspx
