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MAY 30, 2000: Adoptees in Oregon were restored their Constitutional Rights tonight as a stay granted by the Oregon Supreme Court against the enactment of Voter Approved Measure 58 expired. The law which was approved by voters in November of 1998 has been the subject of an intense legal battle waged by Fred Hunsaker, an attorney who filed a suit to bar the enactment of the law for 6 anonymous Birthmothers. Hunsaker on Friday had asked Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, whose jurisdiction includes Oregon, to grant an emergency continuation of the stay. Today O'Connor rejected the plea, thus making way for the Measure to become law today at 5:01 pm when the stay expired.
Hunsaker, who had not seen the order when reached for comment by the Portland Oregonian, refused to comment on what further actions he and his clients would take in light of the decision by O'Connor. Hunsaker's clients claim that Measure 58 which grants an adoptee access to a copy of their original unaltered birth certificates, and which usually contain the names of the adoptee's Birthparents, violates their privacy rights and violates a promise of confidentiality they state was made to them by their adoption agencies.
Supporters of Measure 58, as well as Adoptee Rights Activists from across the nation, have stated the the right to privacy claimed by these Birthparents is in actuality a supposed right to anonymity. Activists point out that Open Records in no way compromises a Birthparents right to any and all legal remedies for a legally defined violation of privacy, such as seeking prosecution under current stalking laws, should it be warranted.
Open Records supporters claim that the promise of confidentiality is one that could never be promised in the first place. They point out that in most cases an adoption is not guaranteed at the time of relinquishment of rights, there is no guarantee that a judge will not someday open the file, and there is no guarantee that someday the adoption could not be annulled thereby a promise could never truly be made with any binding guarantee.
Activists are not alone in stating this view of Confidentiality. Their company includes Oregon Deputy Attorney General, David Schuman, who was quoted in the Oregonian as saying, "Anyone who makes a promise that this information is going to remain confidential is making an illusory promise, the State is not making this promise."
There is still a slight chance that Hunsaker and his Birthmothers could appeal their case to the Oregon Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court, but those actions seem unlikely as Hunsaker has already been denied an appeal regarding the Constitutional Issues they are claiming twice by the Oregon Supreme Court. What Hunsaker will do will remain to be seen but for tonight Adoptees can rejoice in their victory.
Oregon is one of only 5 states in the country that recognize an Adoptee's right to view documentation regarding their Birth and original Birth Certificate. Alabama became the fourth when a progressive bill which also allows access to the adoption files was signed into law by the Alabama Governor last week. Tennessee opened their records several years ago and Kansas and Alaska have never denied their adoptees this right.
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