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Sat. 1:47pm: Bill would open adoption files

COLUMBUS (AP) – Supporters say a bill now in the Ohio legislature would clarify confusing rules governing birth certificates and help adoptees get access to medical and other information from adoption files.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote soon on House Bill 61, and a companion bill is expected to be taken up in the Senate next month.

The proposed legislation would allow most Ohio adoptees access to their original adoption files once they become adults. Birth parents would be given the option of providing family health information that would be released to adoptees upon request.

Supporters of the legislation say changes through the years to Ohio law have resulted in confusing and inconsistent rules that limit access to birth records for some adoptees and not for others.

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