CA Court Rules Same-Sex Parents = Same Responsibilities

[Robert_in_SD]

Hello all:

In three recent cases the California Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex couples who share equally in the raising of kids each are considered parents under the eyes of the law.

(sigh)

SAME-SEX PARENTS, SAME RESPONSIBILITIES
California Supreme Court: Lesbian Partners Can Both Be Legal Parents

BY DAVID L. HUDSON JR.

The California Supreme Court ruled this week that both partners in a lesbian relationship may qualify under state law as parents of a child born to one of them.

“We conclude that a woman who agreed to raise her children with her lesbian partner, supported her partner’s artificial insemination using an anonymous donor, and received the resulting twin children into her home and held them out as her own, is the children’s parent under the Uniform Parentage Act and has an obligation to support them,” Justice Carlos Moreno wrote in the court’s opinion.

The court ruled in Elisa B. v. the Superior Court of El Dorado County, No. S125912, and two companion cases that the legal obligations of parentage carry the same force for lesbian couples as they do in more traditional mother-father arrangements. The court did not specifically apply its rulings to same-sex couples in which both partners are men, although some lawyers involved in the cases say the holdings apply to both gay and lesbian couples.

The other cases are K.M. v. E.G., No. S125643, and Kristine H. v. Lisa R., No. S126945. All three decisions were issued Monday.

Advocacy groups involved in the cases were quick to offer their assessments of the California Supreme Court’s rulings.

“There have been decisions from other state supreme courts on the rights of same-sex parents, but what is groundbreaking about these decisions is that the California high court held that a lesbian or gay partner who agrees to bring children into the world through assisted reproduction is a full legal parent,” says Courtney Joslin, senior staff attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “This is the first time any state supreme court has reached that conclusion. In other states, courts have concluded that a person in that situation was entitled to seek some visitation or custody under equitable theories, but the person was not viewed as a full legal parent.”

That outcome concerns Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, a conservative litigation center based in Orlando, Fla., that filed amicus briefs in all three cases.

“Today’s ruling defies logic and common sense,” Staver said in a written statement released Monday. “By saying that children can have two moms, the court has undermined the family. Gender does matter to children. Today’s ruling underscores the importance of amending California’s constitution to preserve marriage as one man and one woman. The people of California will not put up with such nonsense.”

Here’s the link to the full article:
abanet.org/journal/ereport/au26samesex.html

 

[wabrams]

Maybe this will teach other “couples” parenting is not a game and best left to hetero couples.

 

[Cathlicrat]

In what year did the United States lose their mind and allow homosexuals the right to adopt? Or has it never been an issue?

If it was actually fought in court, I’d like to track and know the name of the lawyer who actually fought for this insidious right and see how their life has turned out thus far and what other evil things they have fought for in a court of law.