AK Dept. of Health Ordered to List Same-Sex Parents on Birth Certificates

by Ryan Lynch

Saturday December 23, 2017

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson directed state officials to allow for same-sex parents to receive birth certificates with both of their names listed.

State Circuit Court Judge Tim Fox ordered the governor and state officials to follow the ruling in the US Supreme Court's 2017 case Pavan v. Smith, according to Metro Weekly. The case found that same-sex couples have the same rights as straight couples in being listed on a child's birth certificate, even when they are not the biological parents.

Arkansas has a "presumption of parentage," law which states the male married to a female is given parental rights even if they are not the biological parent. The Supreme Court found that same-sex couples should have that same right.

"We are pleased Governor Hutchinson is taking this step to ensure that married same-sex parents in Arkansas are treated equally," the family law director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights Catherine Sakimura said in a statement. "This is settled law."

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