Visually picture this political cartoon I saw years ago when New Jersey was also attempting to pass adoption access legislation. Legislation that would give 19-year-old adoptees their original birth certificate. A certificate society has learned is essential for both birth mothers and adoptees because secrecy kills. My children have been reunited for years so I lobby for this legislation for those who need that piece of paper. This year Minnesota was about to join the other eight states who passed it years ago. I mean, the Minnesota House and Senate passed the adoption access bill, needing only our governor’s signature. He vetoed it.

The New Jersey cartoon fits here. A tall, unstatesman-appearing legal man, stands tall, flaunting the piece of paper over the head of a small man standing by him. The small man says: “It is my birth certificate, not yours.”

Get the picture of another year of Minnesota inequality?

Eunice Anderson

Burnsville