AR Supreme Court Says State Not Required to List Same-Sex Couples’ Names on Birth Certificates

Homosexuality,

my_trusty_gavelLast year Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox issued a ruling that forced the State of Arkansas to put the names of three married, same-sex couples on children’s birth certificates. Yesterday the Arkansas Supreme Court overturned Judge Fox’s ruling.

Each same-sex couple has been legally married since the U.S. Supreme Court redefined marriage in 2015, and each has a child conceived via an anonymous sperm donor.

In each of these three cases, only one spouse—the woman who actually gave birth to the child—is a biological parent of the child. According to the Department of Health, only the biological mother of the child may be listed on the child’s birth certificate; you cannot list the name of a second, unrelated “mother” on the certificate.

The three couples sued the state, and Judge Fox ruled in their favor last year, saying the the birth certificates can be amended to list a second “mother.”

Yesterday the Arkansas Supreme Court overturned Judge Fox’s ruling, saying it is entirely appropriate for a child’s birth certificate to list his or her biological parents. In particular, the court noted,

“In the situation involving the female spouse of a biological mother, the female spouse does not have the same biological nexus to the child that the biological mother or the biological father has. It does not violate equal protection to acknowledge basic biological truths.”

We are glad the Arkansas Supreme Court chose to uphold state law on this issue. As we have said before, birth certificates exist to record that a child was born and who the child’s parents are—not who happens to be married to one of the child’s biological parents. Birth certificates are not simply pieces of paper. They are vital records that need to be accurate and deserve respect. We should be careful not to let them become mere political ploys.

Photo Credit: By Brian Turner (Flickr: My Trusty Gavel) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Marijuana Commission Appointees Announced

Marijuana

Kush_closeToday Governor Asa Hutchinson, Sen. Jonathan Dismang, and Rep. Jeremy Gillam appointed five people to sit on the state’s Marijuana Commission forming in the wake of the passage of Issue 6.

The new members of the Marijuana Commission consist of:

  • Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman, M.D., of Little Rock
  • Dr. Stephen Carroll, PharmD, of Benton
  • Travis Story, Esqu., of Fayetteville
  • James Miller of Bryant
  • Dr. Carlos Roman, M.D., of Little Rock

The commission’s responsibilities under Issue 6 include overseeing marijuana in Arkansas.

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El Dorado Stands Firm Against Atheist Group

Religious Freedom, , , ,

Recently we wrote how the City of El Dorado wasn’t yielding to atheist groups who oppose the city’s 40 Days of Prayer campaigns.

This week Americans United for Separation of Church and State took to the Internet, complaining El Dorado “went ahead with a planned ’40 Days of Prayer’ event in October despite a warning from Americans United.”

Hats off to everyone in El Dorado for exercising their religious liberties and refusing to yield to these groups from out of state! Public prayer is a longstanding tradition in this country, as are calls to prayer from public officials.

Meanwhile, a Nativity scene in Michigan has been relocated from a public park to a church’s property following complaints from the atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation. FFRF has worked since 2007 to get the Nativity scene removed from public property in Menominee, MI–even though the Nativity scene is a longstanding tradition in that town.

As we have written numerous times, public officials and local governments can celebrate Christmas, and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled those celebrations can include Nativity displays and similar decorations. Nativity scenes do not have to be placed on private property to be constitutional. They can appear on public property without violating the First Amendment.

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