The following is the text of a joint statement issued by the Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition (TXARC) and Support Texas Adoptee Rights (STAR).
For nearly two decades, adoptee rights advocates have worked to restore equality to adopted Texans. STAR and TXARC continue to lead legislative efforts to ensure passage of HB1386/SB1877. We appreciate the leadership of Senator Joan Huffman, Chair of the Senate Committee on Jurisprudence, for her continued support of this legislation, and we request a hearing in committee on the bills.
The bill’s passage in the Senate will make Texas the tenth state to restore to adoptees the same civil and human rights all other people have: to request and obtain their own vital record.
In addition to the overwhelming bipartisan support in a 144-1 House vote, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick publicly stated in 2015 that he would bring similar legislation to a floor vote if the votes were there. A recent poll by Baselice and Associates also shows 77 percent of those polled support this legislation. Additionally, Gladney Center for Adoption, which has opposed similar bills in the past, has given HB1386/SB1877 full endorsement and is now allied with adoptee rights proponents on this issue, stating that the bill “is the right language and the right time.”
Nearly 200 organizations and individuals submitted testimony in favor of HB1386 in the Public Health Committee hearing, and there is no public statement of opposition from any organization.
Senator Huffman’s strong leadership now will help Texas become a leader in adoption reform by putting the best interests of adopted Texans first. Texas was built on personal liberty and the principle of self autonomy, and this bill embodies these principles. We thank the 87th Texas legislature for its overwhelming support of this bipartisan bill, and for protecting a basic right for all Texans, including those who are adopted. We also thank Rep. Cody Harris and Sen. Nathan Johnson for authoring the bills and for their bipartisan work to enact HB1386/SB1877 into law.
Shawna Hodgson
Spokesperson
Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition
Joellen Peters
President
Support Texas Adoptee Rights
The Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition is a coalition of Texas and national organizations working to secure the right of all Texas adult adoptees to obtain their own original birth certificates, without discriminatory restrictions.