STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1295-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 2607

S.D. 1

H.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 2607, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ADOPTION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to ensure that parents who are citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and Palau who relinquish their children for adoption in the United States are doing so voluntarily. Specifically, this bill provides:

(1) A court proceeding to approve the relinquishment of parental rights;

(2) Counseling and translation services for the parent during the relinquishment proceeding, with the services to be paid by the adoption agency or birth parents;

(3) Criteria upon which the court may approve the petition for relinquishment; and

(4) That the court shall report illegal activities determined during the proceeding.

The Department of Human Services and the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii testified in support of this bill. A concerned individual suggested amendments.

Your Committee finds that reports of illegal trafficking of babies born to mothers who are citizens of the RMI are well-documented. This international problem was fueled until recently by the ability of birth mothers to travel into the United States, particularly Hawaii, without restriction, in order to give birth and avail themselves of public services. Marshallese mothers have been misled, by entities promoting adoptions, about the consequences of relinquishing their children for adoption. While federal laws and RMI laws were enacted last year to stem the illegal trafficking of babies, this measure is necessary to ensure that Marshallese women brought to Hawaii voluntarily relinquish their children with full knowledge of the consequences of terminating their parental rights.

However, your Committee is concerned about numerous aspects of this bill as proposed. While the adoption abuse of children born to women from the RMI is well-documented, no such evidence exists regarding abuses toward women from the FSM or Palau. Your Committee questions whether the provision that requires the RMI court to consent to the adoption is enforceable or necessary since a child is a United States citizen when the child is born in Hawaii. Your Committee is concerned about the jurisdiction of the family court to regulate conduct by out-of-state organizations who facilitate the transport of women to Hawaii in order to give birth and then remove the child to another state for adoption proceedings. Finally, your Committee believes that the role of the family court in these proceedings needs to be clarified.

Based on discussions with the proponents of this bill, the primary problem this measure is intended to address is the protection of the birth mother from the unethical conduct of persons involved in facilitating the adoption.

Your Committee has amended this bill by deleting its contents and inserting provisions that make the following amendments:

(1) Moves the procedures for termination of parental rights to relinquish a child for adoption from chapter 578, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) relating to adoption, to chapter 571, HRS, relating to family courts;

(2) Limits the scope of the bill to women who are citizens of RMI who give birth to children in Hawaii;

(3) Specifies that the adoption facilitator, as defined in this bill, must be doing business within the state in order to be regulated by this measure;

(4) Specifies that the adoption facilitator is responsible for filing the petition for voluntary relinquishment of parental rights on behalf of the birth mother and must provide counseling, translation, and legal services to the birth mother at no cost;

(5) Adds the requirement that the persons providing counseling and legal services must be licensed by the State and that counselors, translators, and attorneys shall be advocates for the birth mother;

(6) Adds procedural requirements to the petition process, i.e., an affidavit signed by the birth mother, service of the petition on the birth mother, and ten days notice of the hearing date;

(7) Specifies additional conditions that must be met before the family court enters judgment terminating parental rights, i.e., that the mother is in the State legally and pursuant to a visa, has received the services required by law, and termination of parental rights is in the best interest of the child;

(8) Provides that adoption proceedings for out-of-state adoptions must be conducted in accordance with the Interstate Compact on Placement of Children;

(9) Specifies the actions the court may take if the petition for relinquishment is denied, i.e., placing the child in protective custody, reporting suspected violations of law, and sanctioning the adoption facilitator;

(10) Specifies that the relinquishment proceedings do not abrogate the adoption proceedings required under chapter 578, HRS;

(11) Adds definitions for "adoption facilitator", "birth mother", and "doing business in the State";

(12) Inserts a severability clause; and

(13) Amends the effective date to July 1, 2020, to facilitate further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2607, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2607, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

 

____________________________

ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair