Colorado Birthmothers Stand Up and Be Counted!

Birthmothers & Triad Please Fight for Colorado! Colorado House Bill 1286-- the voluntary expedited relinquishment bill is up for debate in the Senate on Monday. Your phone calls, faxes and emails are needed to help DEFEAT this bill. If passed it will encourage agencies to bully birthmothers into rapid abandonment and speed up the relinquishment process while also bypassing court checks and balances. While all interested parties are encouraged to contact these statesmen. It's important to hear from BIOLOGICAL MOTHERS that this bill is not fair to birth mothers and why you think so. EMAILS are great, but PHONE CALLS and FAXES are BETTER! ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- The bill will be heard by the Senate Judiciary on Monday, March 10 -- CALL or FAX NOW!! ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- A most significant point is that this bill was written by six Colorado adoption agencies whose paid lobbyist is pushing it hard. Also the Lt Governor said adoption would be a priority this year in Colorado. As often happens when politicians set a priority on doing "something" about adoption, that "something" tends to be ill-advised. No experts are consulted excepting those whose expertise is compromised by the fact that they have a financial interest in the passage of the bill. This bill is about expediting adoptions for prospective parents who can pay agency fees, not about what is in the best interests of the child or what is fair to biological parents. Colleagues in Colorado who attended the House hearing on the bill were told that the purpose of the bill was to "help birth mothers relinquish quickly so they could get on with their lives." We know that relinquishment is something that must not be done in haste but with careful consideration and an absence of pressure to "sign the papers." Sponsors also explained that the bill would also help "expedite adoptions for adoptive parents." The bill allows a birth parent to sign relinquishment papers before a child is even born and then the agency would have the relinquishment papers in their possession. The papers could then be filed with the court 72 hours after the birth. Sponsor Rep. Lynn Hefley opined that the relinquishment would then be final for the birth mother. She said the seven to ten day period following the filing is only for the court to review the papers. The birth mother would no longer be involved at that point. We believe that if the birth mom signed the papers 72 hours after the birth of her child that the agency could file the papers that same day and the relinquishment would then be final, for the birthmother. All this seems like a great deal of undue haste. The bill is designed to remove the court hearing from the process of relinquishment. Our colleagues in Colorado tell us the system there does discourage at least some agencies from being as unethical as they might possibly be but, at least some of the agencies are afraid of the judicial review process and want this bill passed to remove that review. As long as birth mothers go to court for a relinquishment hearing there is a check and balance system operating that will help to control at least some corruption. The judges are required by the state to question the counseling the birthmothers have received at the agency. Court proceedings require the birth mother to re-think her decision again in another environment (some judges expel the agency people from the court room or chamber while the birth mom is there to make sure she is not being manipulated by the agency worker through eye contact, or other coaching). The agencies want to remove the court hearing to give them total control over the relinquishments. Result: more babies for the agencies. A part of the bill appears to allow the birth father to terminate the birth mother's rights without her consent and that seems it would be unconstitutional. This question was brought up in House committee (HEWI) and the apparent conflict of rights may be why it is now assigned to the Senate Judiciary committee. Rep. Fran Coleman, an adoptee, who voted against it told colleagues that she thought the legislators just didn't get to hear the opinions of birthmothers and other members of the triad since they don't have a paid lobbyist and the Agencies do. Contact the senators on Senate Judiciary now. Fax #s for ALL: 303-866-2012 and 303-866-4565 JIM DYER -- Senate sponsor of the bill 200 E. Coolfax Denver, CO 80203 Phone: 303-866-4866 Fax: 303-866-2012 Email: jim.dyer.senate@state.co.us JOHN EVANS Assistant Majority Leader of the Senate Phone: 303-866-4881 E-Mail: john.evans.senate@state.co.us KEN GORDON Assistant Minority Leader of the Senate Phone: 303-866-4875 E-Mail: ken.gordon.senate@state.co.us DAN GROSSMAN Capitol Phone: 303-866-4852 E-Mail: dan.grossman.senate@state.co.us PETER C. GROFF Phone: 303-866-2909 Email: peter.groff.house@state.co.us MARK HILLMAN Co-Majority Leader of the Senate Phone: 303-866-6360 Fax: 970-867-4640 E-mail: mark.hillman.senate@state.co.us SUE WINDELS Phone: 303-866-4840 E-Mail: sue.windels.senate@state.co.us The above numbers are their Capital numbers which will allow you to leave a voice mail 24 hours a day. You can get additional numbers, FAXes and emails from the Colorado Home page: [url]http://www.state.co.us.[/url] You can also get updated information about the bill on that website or call the bill room (303-866-3055) to get information. Here are other Senate contacts. If you live in Colorado and one of these senators represents your district, please contact them and ask them to vote "NO" on HB 1286. NORMA V. ANDERSON Co-Majority Leader of the Senate Capitol Phone: 303-866-3341 E-mail: norma.anderson.senate@state.co.us JOHN ANDREWS President of the Senate Phone: 303-866-3342 E-Mail: john.andrews.senate@state.co.us KEN ARNOLD Capitol Phone: 303-866-4876 Home Phone: 303-466-2666 Fax Number: 303-439-7987 E-Mail: ken.arnold.senate@state.co.us BRUCE CAIRNS Capitol Phone: 303-866-3432 E-Mail: bruce.cairns.senate@state.co.us KEN CHLOUBER President Pro Tem Capitol Phone: 303-866-4869 E-mail: ken.chlouber.senate@state.co.us LEWIS ENTZ Capitol Phone: 303-866-4871 E-mail: lewis.entz.senate@state.co.us JOAN FITZ-GERALD Minority Leader of the Senate Phone: 303-866-2318 Fax: 303-866-4543 E-Mail: joan.fitzgerald.senate@state.co.us BOB HAGEDORN Phone: 303-866-4879 E-Mail: senbob@msn.com DEANNA HANNA Phone: 303-866-4857 E-mail: deanna.hanna.senate@state.co.us JIM ISGAR Phone: 303-866-4884 E-mail: isgarsenate@frontier.net STEVE JOHNSON Capitol Phone: 303-866-4853 E-Mail: steve.johnson.senate@state.co.us ED JONES Phone: 303-866-6364 E-mail: ed.jones.senate@state.co.us MARYANNE "MO" KELLER Capitol Phone: 303-866-4856 E-mail: moe.keller.senate@state.co.us KEN KESTER Phone: 303-866-4877 E-Mail: ken.kester.senate@state.co.us DOUG LAMBORN Majority Caucus Chairman Phone: 303-866-4835 E-mail: doug.lamborn.senate@state.co.us DOUG LINKHART Capitol Phone: 303-866-4861 Home Phone: 303-733-3569 E-mail: doug@douglinkhart.com RON MAY Phone: 303-866-4866 E-Mail: ron.may.senate@state.co.us ANDY McELHANY Phone: 303-866-4866 ALICE J. NICHOL Phone: 303-866-4863 Fax: 303-287-7742 E-mail: alice.nichol.senate@state.co.us DAVID T. "DAVE" OWEN Phone: 303-866-2586 Fax: 970-330-9600 TERRY PHILLIPS Capitol Phone: 303-866-5291 E-mail: terry.phillips.senate@state.co.us PEGGY REEVES Capitol Phone: 303-866-4841 Home Phone: 970-482-8952 Mailing Address: 1931 Sandalwood Lane, Fort Collins, CO 80526 Fax Number: 303-866-4543 E-Mail: peggy.reeves.senate@state.co.us PAULA SANDOVAL Capitol Phone: 303-866-4862 E-Mail: paula.sandoval.senate@state.co.us STEPHANIE TAKIS Phone: 303-866-4855 E-Mail: stephanie.takis.senate@state.co.us ABEL TAPIA Capitol Phone: 303-866-4878 E-mail: abel.tapia.senate@state.co.us JACK TAYLOR Phone: 303-866-4866 RONALD J. "RON" TECK Phone: 303-866-3077 E-Mail: ron.teck.senate@state.co.us RON TUPA Minority Caucus Chairman Phone: 303-866-4872 E-Mail: ron.tupa.senate@state.co.us Thank you for your efforts! Let me know the results of your contacts. 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