The Arkansas state Supreme Court has ruled birth certificates for children adopted by same-sex parents must still show the biological parents of the child, overturning an earlier ruling.
Four members of the Arkansas court ruled to reverse Little Rock Circuit Judge Tim Fox’s December 2015 ruling that said identifying the child’s biological mother and father on the birth certificate infringed on the constitutional due process rights of adoptive same-sex couples, according to Reuters.
Fox’s ruling agreed with three lesbian couples who said when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last year, it voided the requirements that biological parents be listed on a child's birth certificate.
Arkansas’ highest court disagreed with Fox, however, stating that it doesn’t violate equal protection “to acknowledge basic biological truths,” ABC News reported. The court argued that Arkansas has a vested interest in having biological parents listed on birth certificates.
Same-sex couples can still petition the court individually to get a court order to have both of their names listed on the birth certificate.
Married heterosexual couples can put their names on the birth certificate of a child born during the marriage, even if that child is not biologically the husband’s, one justice pointed out, and said same-sex couples should have the same ability, ABC News reported.
Attorneys for the lesbian couples, whose children’s birth certificates have already been amended, have not decided whether to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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