(Des Moines, IA, May 3, 2013) - Today the Iowa Supreme Court built upon its ruling in Lambda Legal's landmark case, Varnum v. Brien, which ordered that same-sex couples and their families be treated equally under Iowa law, and ordered the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) to provide an accurate two-parent birth certificate to all children born to lesbian married parents in Iowa.
(Des Moines, IA, December 11, 2012) - Today the Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lambda Legal's lawsuit seeking to compel the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) to provide an accurate birth certificate to all children born to same-sex married parents in Iowa.
"A Polk County district court judge ruled today that the spouse in a same-sex marriage should be listed on their child's birth certificate without going through adoption proceedings.
"The health department in 2009 had refused to list Gartner on the birth certificate until she had adopted the child.
Today, the Iowa District Court for Polk
County ordered the state's Department of Public Health to issue a birth
certificate for two year-old Mackenzie Gartner, a child born to a married
same-sex couple in 2009, listing both spouses as Mackenzie's parents in
reliance on their marriage and the spousal presumption of parentage it
creates.
