U.S. Supreme Court Rules That States Must Put Same-Sex Parents on Birth Certificates

"Birth certificates [are] more than a mere marker of biological relationships."
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Though same-sex couples across the country won the right to marry in 2015 thanks to Obergefell v. Hodges, states have continued to restrict their rights. One such way has been to keep their names off their children's birth certificates. But thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling announced on Monday, June 26, that will no longer be legal.

Two lesbian couples in Arkansas had children via sperm donors, and only the biological mothers showed up on their birth certificates. Officials refused to add their partners. The names on children's birth certificates are significant because they can affect who has the right to receive information about the children's education, give consent for medical procedures, and make other major decisions, according to the couples' court petition.

Their case, Pavan v. Smith, went to the Arkansas Supreme Court, which ruled that same-sex parents didn't have to be included on birth certificates because "it does not violate equal protection to acknowledge basic biological truths."

The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed, pointing out that Obergefell v. Hodges gives same-sex couples marriage rights "on the same terms and conditions as opposite-sex couples," including the right to appear on birth and death certificates. The court also mentioned that Arkansas's policy for same-sex couples was inconsistent with its policy for other nonbiological parents. When women married to men in the state have kids through artificial insemination, their husbands still get listed on the birth certificates.

The ruling sets a precedent for same-sex married couples to be treated just as biological parents would be. "Arkansas has thus chosen to make its birth certificates more than a mere marker of biological relationships," it reads. "The State uses those certificates to give married parents a form of legal recognition that is not available to unmarried parents. Having made that choice, Arkansas may not, consistent with Obergefell, deny married same-sex couples that recognition."