Puerto Rico says no on adoption

Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court narrowly voted Wednesday to uphold a law banning gay couples from adopting children.Unknown

The 5-4 vote came in the case of an unidentified woman who has sought for the last eight years to adopt a 12-year-old girl who her partner of more than 20 years had through in vitro fertilization, reports Huffington Post.  “It was the first time that the court heard a case on same-sex adoptions.

“A majority of judges upheld the constitutionality of a law that states a person cannot adopt a single-parent child if the would-be adopter is of the same sex as the child’s mother or father without that parent losing their legal rights.

“The judges also said a family composed of a mother and father is best for a child’s dignity, stability and well-being. “The state … has not criminalized their sentimental relationship, but it does not have a constitutional obligation to award this relationship the same rights that other relationships have when it comes to adoption procedures,” the majority’s opinion said.

“The majority also found that so-called second-parent adoptions, in which couples jointly adopt children, do not apply in Puerto Rico. That issue affects the case in question in part, the majority said, because the girl would have to be registered with two mothers and the U.S. territory’s laws do not address such a situation.The judges said it is up to legislators to change adoption laws if they see fit.

“’Starting today, the applicant should channel her efforts through the Legislative Assembly,’ the majority wrote, noting that courts in Nebraska, Ohio, Wisconsin and Connecticut have struck down similar cases.

“CABE, an umbrella group that represents more than a dozen local human rights organizations, said the opinion shows the legal and social vulnerabilities of the island’s gay and lesbian community.”

 

Full story at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/20/puerto-rico-denies-gay-couples-right-adopt-children_n_2726814.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay%20Voices

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