In the United States, civil rights have become a hot topic and protests have erupted all over the country for the right to certain things such as the issues in the LGBT community and police brutality. There is one right that is even more basic than these rights and forbidden to many Americans; the basic right to know to where one comes from. I understand this right from a personal level and know what the lack of this information can mean to some. For those affected by the lack of access to records, it could range from a simple curiosity to a life or death situation. Some states, such as Kansas and Alaska have never sealed adoption records. States such as Ohio and Illinois have gone through a legislative process to unseal the records. Yet, there
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Norris proposed a bill that would become law and sealed the adoption records. In his testimony on January 18, 1994, in front of the Human Resources Committee in the Ohio House of Representatives, he explained his reasoning behind the law in the sixties and his change or heart in later years. Mr. Norris, a father of three adopted children, realized that his adopted children’s birth records could be easily accessed by anyone. Thinking that introducing his legislation would provide privacy, and best for all involved in the adoption triad, any adoption finalized after January 1, 1964 would be sealed, except by court order. His two older adopted children were not affected by this law change, but his youngest daughter, Betsie Norris’ adoption was finalized after the law had changed. When Bestie became an adult, Mr. Norris began to realize the impact of his “grave mistake” (To Equalize Access to Birth Records for Ohio Adoptees, 1994, p. 2). “This has resulted in unnecessary discrimination by denying to a special group of citizens the right to have access to their original birth certificate” (To Equalize Access to Birth Records for Ohio Adoptees, 1994, p. 2) He admits that the original law was motivated from an adopted parent’s standpoint of wanting to protect his children and did not consider the effect it would have once the adoptee became an adult. Watching his daughter’s “agonizing search,” he saw firsthand the …show more content…
Heredity plays a huge role in being able to diagnose complicated health conditions and, moreover, many could be missed, or diagnoses prolonged, by not having access to family history. A case in Missouri in 1980 illustrates this point. James Goerge, at the age of thiry-one, was dying of Leukemia. Needing a bone marrow transplant from a biological family member he petitioned the court to open his records. “The judge contacted the alleged natural father, who denied paternity and refused to be tested for compatibility. There the matter ended” (Carp, 202, p. 447). The Court assuming his death was inevitable, and finding his family in time was unlikely to prolong the such, the court ruled that he had not proven “good cause” for the records to be unsealed. While this is a case of the extreme side of the argument in shines a light on the “good cause” standard that must be met. Is it fair that some would have to endure many invasive tests to come up with a diagnosis, risking the fact that time might not be their friend, because they cannot provide answers while others who can provide a history are afforded an immediate treatment plan perhaps saving their life? To further this argument, Charis Eng, the founding Chair of the Cleveland Clinic Genomic Medical Institute, explained why knowing a family’s medical history is an essential tool for doctors to properly diagnose a patient and how to proceed with
Norris proposed a bill that would become law and sealed the adoption records. In his testimony on January 18, 1994, in front of the Human Resources Committee in the Ohio House of Representatives, he explained his reasoning behind the law in the sixties and his change or heart in later years. Mr. Norris, a father of three adopted children, realized that his adopted children’s birth records could be easily accessed by anyone. Thinking that introducing his legislation would provide privacy, and best for all involved in the adoption triad, any adoption finalized after January 1, 1964 would be sealed, except by court order. His two older adopted children were not affected by this law change, but his youngest daughter, Betsie Norris’ adoption was finalized after the law had changed. When Bestie became an adult, Mr. Norris began to realize the impact of his “grave mistake” (To Equalize Access to Birth Records for Ohio Adoptees, 1994, p. 2). “This has resulted in unnecessary discrimination by denying to a special group of citizens the right to have access to their original birth certificate” (To Equalize Access to Birth Records for Ohio Adoptees, 1994, p. 2) He admits that the original law was motivated from an adopted parent’s standpoint of wanting to protect his children and did not consider the effect it would have once the adoptee became an adult. Watching his daughter’s “agonizing search,” he saw firsthand the …show more content…
Heredity plays a huge role in being able to diagnose complicated health conditions and, moreover, many could be missed, or diagnoses prolonged, by not having access to family history. A case in Missouri in 1980 illustrates this point. James Goerge, at the age of thiry-one, was dying of Leukemia. Needing a bone marrow transplant from a biological family member he petitioned the court to open his records. “The judge contacted the alleged natural father, who denied paternity and refused to be tested for compatibility. There the matter ended” (Carp, 202, p. 447). The Court assuming his death was inevitable, and finding his family in time was unlikely to prolong the such, the court ruled that he had not proven “good cause” for the records to be unsealed. While this is a case of the extreme side of the argument in shines a light on the “good cause” standard that must be met. Is it fair that some would have to endure many invasive tests to come up with a diagnosis, risking the fact that time might not be their friend, because they cannot provide answers while others who can provide a history are afforded an immediate treatment plan perhaps saving their life? To further this argument, Charis Eng, the founding Chair of the Cleveland Clinic Genomic Medical Institute, explained why knowing a family’s medical history is an essential tool for doctors to properly diagnose a patient and how to proceed with