PRIVACY SMIVACY

This is something that Catholic Charities and the NCFA constantly throw at us fighting for adoptee access. I personally believe that the mothers should have equal access to that document. To understand what the right to privacy means you need to understand the laws and the different definitions of privacy.

The Catholic Church and its charity, Catholic Charities have issues with the right to privacy period. They have tried to keep the Catholic priest issue under raps for years both in Texas and in Indiana. As recently as December of 2007, they were still fighting over the sexual abuse scandal of the Catholic Church. On Channel Six Indianapolis, this story came up on my Google search.

Recently a document has come to my attention about adoptee access and the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was initially opposed to the sealing of records. They even wrote the Governor of New York about it. You can find that article here.

Definitions of Privacy according to Wikipedia:

• Physical privacy means the prevention of intrusions into one's physical space or solitude, unwelcome searching of one's personal possessions or unauthorized access to one's home or vehicle. This can also be used for stalking.
• Informational privacy means keeping one's identifying information such as a person's social security number private.
  
• Financial privacy is about keeping our financial transactions private along with all of our credit card, debit card and account numbers.
• Medical privacy is about keeping our medical records to ourselves.
  
• Political privacy is being able to vote anonymously.
• Familial privacy is being able to make the best reproductive choices for one's family without governmental interference. (This one is not in Wikipedia but it is often used when it comes to adoptee access.)
• Organizational privacy is more about keeping trade secrets amongst companies private so that another company can't exploit their secrets. The government may also invoke executive privilege.

None of this really explains why adoptees and their families can't have access to the adoption records and the original birth certificate. These are documents that pertain to all of us. They are about all of us. They have our names all over it.

Adoption according to Indiana's right to privacy laws is considered separate under the law. If one were to read Brown vs. Board of Education, then the state would realize that separate is not equal. Roe vs. Wade is another example that they love to misinterpret. It is about the right to privacy. It is about the right to be free from governmental interference.