Arkansas court upholds same-sex marriage birth certificate law

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas’ highest court threw out a judge’s ruling Dec. 8 that could have allowed all married same-sex couples to get the names of both spouses on their children’s birth certificates without a court order, saying it doesn’t violate equal protection “to acknowledge basic biological truths.”

The state Supreme Court also issued a rare admonishment to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox, saying he made “inappropriate remarks” in his ruling that struck down the birth certificate law. Fox had cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing marriage equality in his ruling last year that said married same-sex couples should have both names listed on their children’s birth certificates, just as heterosexual married couples do, without requiring a court order.

In the state Supreme Court’s decision, the justices sided with the state attorney general’s office, saying Arkansas has a vested interest in listing biological parents on birth certificates.

The birth certificate issue was the first major case surrounding same-sex marriage for the Arkansas court since an unusually public split among justices last year over its handling of a lawsuit over Arkansas’ same-sex marriage ban. The court dismissed the lawsuit hours after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

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