Connecticut Governor Signs Conditional Open Records Legislation into Law

“Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Monday that he has signed an additional 65 bills, including one that grants some adopted citizens the right to retrieve their original birth certificates.

The law will apply to adopted citizens 18 years and older, starting next July, if their adoption was finalized on or after October 1, 1983.

Not without controversy, an earlier version of the bill was vetoed by then-governor M. Jodi Rell in 2006, who spoke about a concern for the privacy of the biological mother in announcing her decision. But though it had its opponents, the present version of the bill passed both chambers of the legislature by wide margins.

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, an adoptee himself, hailed the signing of the legislation, which would affect an estimated 25,000 people.

“I know first-hand what it’s like to lack access to your birth records,” he said in a statement. “Adoptees in Connecticut have been treated like second-class citizens for too long, unable to access our birth records that can help us understand medical issues that we might face and giving us a further understanding of our identities.”

Carol Goodyear of Access Connecticut, a group which supported the bill, said she was “absolutely thrilled and elated” at Malloy’s signature.

“The whole thing was so exciting because we were told that the likelihood of anything happening this year was slim to none, and we actually did it,” said Goodyear, an adoptee.”

Malloy Signs Bills On Adoption Records, Tracking Of Taser Use Among Police[The Hartford Courant 6/9/14 by CHRISTOPHER KEATING And MATTHEW Q. CLARIDA]

Access Connecticut says “We are incredibly pleased to announce that on June 6, 2014 Governor Dannel Malloy signed into law Public Act 14-133 (House Bill 5144), which restores the right of adoptees adopted after October 1, 1983 to access their original birth certificates upon reaching the age of 18. We are completely thrilled and grateful that the Governor signed the bill, which represents years of work on the part of literally thousands of supporters of adoptee rights….

This law restores the right of access to approximately 24,000 of the 65,000 adoptees who were born in Connecticut since 1919.  So, what about the adoptees who were not covered by this bill?

Many of you know that neither myself (Access Connecticut President Karen Caffrey), Vice President Carol Goodyear, nor our legislative champion Rep. David Alexander were covered by this bill.  We are all deply committed to continuing our efforts to restore access to ourselves and our fellow pre-1983 adoptees.”

Check out House Bill 5144 here.

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