In three separate cases, the California Supreme Court yesterday ruled a child legally can have two mothers, effectively expanding the make-up of a family in the state.
The rulings are the first in the nation to grant full parental status to both members of same-sex couples who participated in planning and rearing a child.
In Elisa B. v. Superior Court., the court held that a lesbian who had agreed to raise the children born to her partner, but then split up with her partner, was required to pay child support for the children as a parent.
In K.M. v. E.G., the court held that the existence of a written waiver of rights was no bar to a lesbian woman who had donated ova to her partner to assist in an in vitro fertilization from asserting rights as a parent.
And in Kristine H. v. Lisa R., the court found that a stipulation signed by the natural mother conferred a legal right to her lesbian partner to exercise the role of a parent over the child.
“The California Supreme Court is determined not to be outdone in the aggressive fashioning of new social policy under the guise of deciding legal cases,” Stephen Crampton, chief counsel for the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, said in a statement. “These cases, read together, demonstrate beyond question the social and political agenda of the court. They have little or nothing to do with law.”
Continued Crampton: “The arrogance of the California court in attempting to redefine the family by the mere stroke of a pen is nothing short of extraordinary.”
In the K.M. v. E.G. case, the state high court, in a 4-2 decision, found lesbian K.M. to be a legal parent.
“A woman who supplies ova to be used to impregnate her lesbian partner, with the understanding that the resulting child will be raised in their joint home, cannot waive her responsibility to support that child,” the majority opinion stated. “Nor can such a purported waiver effectively cause that woman to relinquish her parental rights.”
In Elisa B. v. Emily B., the court explained that there is no “reason why both parents of a child cannot be women.”
Mathew Staver is president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, which filed amicus briefs in all three cases.
“Today’s ruling defies logic and common sense,” Staver said. “By saying that children can have two moms, the court has undermined the family. This ruling establishes a policy that essentially says moms and dads are mere surplus. Thousands of studies conclude that children need moms and dads, not two moms and two dads, but one of each. Gender does matter to children.
“Today’s ruling underscores the importance of amending California’s constitution to preserve marriage as one man and one woman. The people of California will not put up with such nonsense.”
Related stories:
Lesbian declared ‘psychological parent’
