Colorado General Assembly   Representative Pam Rhodes    Straight Parents - Strong Families

Senate kills bill banning same-sex birth certificates
by The Associated Press
published in the Denver Post

Wednesday, April 10, 2002 - A Senate committee today killed a bill that would have banned gay couples from getting court approval to put both their names on birth certificates.

Opponents of the bill applauded after House Bill 1356 died in a party-line vote. They argued the bill was an attack on homosexuals that would hurt children of committed couples.

Opponents said they need judicial intervention to protect children and their rights of inheritance and access to health insurance, Social Security and other benefits.

They also said it was necessary to avoid placing children in foster care if the biological mother dies.

Proponents of House Bill 1356, which passed the House, criticized two judges in Boulder County who ordered the state health department to issue about 45 birth certificates listing same-sex couples as parents. They said the law was needed to guarantee accuracy of state records.

In most cases, women in lesbian relationships became pregnant through artificial insemination and their partners asked a judge to invoke a rarely used provision of law to establish maternity.

Sen. Mark Hillman, R-Burlington, said killing the bill did not solve the problem. "This still leaves the existing law unclear," Hillman said.

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