Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Utah Supreme Court Stays Orders On Birth Certificates For Adoptees of Same-Sex Parents
According to AP and a release from the Utah Attorney General's Office, the Utah Supreme Court on Friday night issued a stay of several state trial judges' orders that required the Utah Department of Health to issue birth certificates in same-sex parent adoptions. The stay came in response to a Petition for Emergency Relief filed by the Attorney General's office seeking clarification as to whether the trial court orders violate other provisions of Utah law that prohibit the state from recognizing same-sex marriages. Those provisions remain in effect while federal constitutional challenge to the ban on same-sex marriage is being appealed. (See prior posting.) Friday's state Supreme Court stay remains in effect until the issue of recognizing same-sex parent adoptions is resolved by the state Supreme Court.