LITTLE ROCK (KFSM) — On Thursday (Dec. 8) the Arkansas Supreme Court reversed a judges’ decision that same-sex parents could have both parents listed on the birth certificate.
The divided supreme court dissented with Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Davis’ ruling that keeping same-sex couples from having both parents’ names on children’s birth certificates is depriving them of their constitutional rights. Davis used Obergefell v. Hodges, the United States Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage, to declare that both same-sex parents should be allowed to be listed on a child’s birth certificate.
The Arkansas supreme court sided with the Arkansas Department of Health, stating that the birth certificate’s purpose is to truthfully record the child’s biological mother and father.
An affidavit from an ADH worker stated: “Identification of biological parents through birth records is critical to ADH’s identification of public health trends, and it can be critical to an individual’s identification of personal health issues and genetic conditions.”
Justice Paul Danielson, who dissented, said being named a parent on the birth certificate is a right associate with marriage. He added that the majority was mistaken in focusing on biological relationships instead of marital ones.
