From Aiden's Page (comments enabled there)
Governor Rod Blagojevich signed Senate Bill 568 into law today. This was not the bill that we had been watching, but does the same thing. The only difference is that this bill allows 9 months to request the birth certificate. The bill passed unanimously in both houses. Thank you to everyone who supported this law and thank you to the legislature of Illinois for this.
Introduced in the Illinois Senate today, is a bill to amend the Vital Records act:
Amends the Vital Records Act. Provides that when the death of a child occurs within 90 days of that child's live birth, the mother listed on the birth certificate of that child may request the issuance of a copy of a certificate of live birth from the State Registrar. Provides that the request shall comply with specific requirements, shall indicate the requestor's relationship to the child, and shall be made not later than 6 months from the date of the death of the child.
Right now the law states that anyone requesting a birth certificate of a deceased person, that certificate must be stamped prominently with the word "DECEASED". For parents in our position, this means that the only birth certificate we will ever be able to have will have the word DECEASED across it. Sen. John J. Cullerton has introduced a bill to amend the law so that parents can request a birth certificate within the time frame listed, and with identification, which would not be stamped DECEASED.
If you are an Illinois resident, please contact your legislators to let them know you support this bill. Write, call, e-mail, and spread the word. Believe me when I say that the parents of children who have passed away will treasure this birth certificate.
If you are not an Illinois resident, your voice can still be heard, both in Illinois, and in your own state. Protecting against identity theft is very important, but everyone should have one birth certificate that is a reminder of life, rather than death.
It up and running. now with three themes: Green (with wine casks), Blue (Space-Ship One) and Grey (Statue). You should get a random one each session. Let me know what you think.
Update (12/04/04)Now there are 5 a sunrise theme, and an all new Christmas Theme. (Right now the christmas theme is weighted to occur about 10 times for every 1 time another theme comes up.)
My mother has decided that the she will not be able to meet the fund-raising goals to do the Chicago Triathlon, largely because she will be out of the country for an important part of the fund-raising period. So, she's doing the Chicago Martathon instead. Here's the link for donations. Please help if you can.
As I've mentioned before, my mother is participating in the Chicago Triathlon Marathon for Teams in Training. If you'd like to help out, here's the link for on-line donations.
