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Dear ______________________:

I urge you to vote against H-3642, H-3643, and H-3644, bills closing access to vital records, petitioned by Kingston Rep. T. J. O'Brien, et al.

There are three major reasons for rejecting these bills:

1. They would end a long tradition of accessibility to vital records and their indexes.

2.  People need to be able to uncover their family’s medical history.

3. These bills would have a negative impact on the Massachusetts economy.

Curtailing public access to vital records (and even to their indexes) will break an almost 400-year-old legal status that has served the public well.

On the medical side, the US Surgeon General has launched a nationwide campaign to convince people to know their family’s medical history for preventative, diagnostic, and treatment purposes.  Vital records are a critical source of such information.

On the economic side, thousands of out-of-state researchers come to Massachusetts every year to look for the vital records of their ancestors.  These out-of-state researchers support the Massachusetts economy to the tune of millions of dollars in hotel, restaurant, and entertainment expenditures. 

For example, this summer thousands of genealogists will be coming to Boston for a huge national conference at the Hynes Auditorium.  They will spend money, and Boston’s many attractions will bring them back again and again.  Once they are coming here to do research, they will make the trips into family vacations.  That contributes to the economy at a time when Massachusetts is losing population.

These researchers are drawn here because the records are available NOW.  Restrictions on vital records will damage the Massachusetts tourist industry at a time when retiring baby boomers are swelling the numbers of the genealogical community.

Rep. O'Brien's bills may have some meritorious intentions.  But they have not got it right yet.

Respectfully submitted,

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