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发帖数: 2113 | 1 http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/03/180840531/iowa-c
same-sex-parents-on-birth-certificates
Iowa's Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that the state's health
department
must include the names of both same-sex spouses as parents on a child's
birth
certificate.
The ruling stems from a challenge brought by Heather and Melissa Gartner of
Des
Moines, following the Iowa Department of Public Health's refusal in 2009 to
list
Heather as a parent on their daughter's birth certificate.
The couple was married that same year, after Iowa legalized same-sex
marriage.
Justice David Wiggins, who authored the opinion of the court, said the state
had
an interest in "the accuracy of birth certificates, the efficiency and
effectiveness of government administration, and the determination of
paternity."
Wiggins wrote that it was important "to recognize that married lesbian
couples
who have children enjoy the same benefits and burdens as married opposite-
sex
couples who have children.
"By naming the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a married
lesbian
couple's child, the child is ensured support from that parent and the parent
establishes fundamental legal rights at the moment of birth," the opinion
said. |
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