Arkansas court throws out ruling on birth certificate law

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     (AP) – Arkansas’ highest court has thrown out a judge’s

ruling that could have allowed married same-sex couples to get the names of both

spouses on their children’s birth certificates without a court order.

     A split Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Pulaski County Circuit

Court Judge Tim Fox went too far when he found the birth certificate law

unconstitutional last year.

     Justices sided with the state, which said Arkansas has a vested interest in

listing biological parents on birth certificates. The court said it doesn’t

violate equal protection “to acknowledge basic biological truths.”

     In a dissent, Justice Paul Danielson wrote that listing a parent’s name on a

birth certificate is a benefit associated with marriage that should be extended

to same-sex couples under the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage.




   

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