The Illinois Senate passed HB 5428:

36 yea

16 nay

2 present

This is nothing short of a catastrophic loss for GENUINE equal rights for adoptees in Illinois.

Worse, the Senators appear to have thought they were passing an adoptee rights bill!

HB 5428 instead proposes a civil and human rights violation, rights for some at the direct  cost to others.

It fails any test of equal treatment under law.

It fails to set forth a single standard.

Instead Illinois adoptees will be subject to multiple tiers of access or lack of access.

See this Bastard Nation Action Alert for some of the horrible details of the bill.

The only thing standing between this legislative abomination and it becoming law is the Governor’s signature.

Please contact Governor Quinn immediately.

Bastards were almost entirely locked out of this bill’s process, not allowed to speak beyond submitted testimony and our letters and calls.

One single Illinois adoptee was permitted to testify (see the comments on this post and the link to the testimony here) before the Senate Judiciary committee, but otherwise, despite Bastard attempts to be heard, our voices have been otherwise absent, intentionally pushed to the margins.

When legislation is made by and large, without the voices of  of the directly affected,  we should not be the least bit surprised when it comes out the other end of the process so deeply mangled, so deeply damaging.

If this bill does become law it will gut adopted people’s rights in Illinois for decades, if not lifetimes.

Deja Vu All Over Again–Sneaky Sara Feigenholtz Part 2: Illinois HB 5428 and The Odor of Mendacity

and just added,

RIP ILLINOIS: HB 5428 PASSES:. Adoptee Rights Die

And again, I can’t say this strongly enough contact Governor Quinn immediately.

Explain to him how deeply we, as adopted people and our allies oppose this legislation.