Legislation to close the “doughnut hole” for adopted individuals born between 1964-1996, the years of closed adoptions in Ohio, is currently in committee. Legislation opening access to original birth certificates (OBC) in 1996 was not retroactively given to adoptees born in these years.
The Toledo Free Press reported in February that opposition to access regarding opening birth certificates this time around has been minimal. Groups that opposed during earlier efforts such as the Ohio Right to Life based their opposition on the belief that women would choose abortion over adoption if they could not be guaranteed privacy. So far there has been no evidence tying abortion rates to access to original birth certificates and ORTL is supporting the legislation.
