Same Sex Couples Adoption Rights
Should Same Sex Couples Have the Same Adoption Rights as Heterosexual Couples?
Krystal Davis
COM/220
March 13, 2012
Barbara Plyler
Should Same Sex Couples Have the Same Adoption Rights as Heterosexual Couples?
In 2008, President Barack Obama stated there are too many children who need loving parents to deny one group of people adoption rights (eQuality, 2005). A child will benefit from a healthy, loving home, whether the parents are gay or not (eQuality, 2005). With that statement in 2008 from the individual who holds the most powerful authority in the United States, why are gay and lesbian couples today still battling adoption laws? When in fact while trying to adopt and raise children a couple’s sexual orientation should not be a factor. Homosexuals should not have to battle or circumvent adoption laws. The American family does not look the same as it did 30 years ago; therefore the adoption laws should not be the same either. Consequently, the adoption laws for some states are changing as the world evolves and realizes that a child’s well-being is more important than his or her parent’s sexual preferences. Currently, gay and lesbian couples are prohibited from adopting in only two states, Utah and Mississippi (Tavernise, 2011). Equally important is the exclusion on marriage and equal parenting rights for both parents. Some same sex households face the inequality in parental rights when children are included from previous heterosexual relationships. For example, in 2002 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that same sex adoptions should be permissible. The Supreme Court’s decision to allow same sex adoptions only came after the lower courts in Pennsylvania denied two same sex adoption petitions (Appell, 2003). The Supreme Court’s decision was based on the language included in the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). The ASFA did not exclude children who did not have any legal parents from being adopted by same sex or
Krystal Davis
COM/220
March 13, 2012
Barbara Plyler
Should Same Sex Couples Have the Same Adoption Rights as Heterosexual Couples?
In 2008, President Barack Obama stated there are too many children who need loving parents to deny one group of people adoption rights (eQuality, 2005). A child will benefit from a healthy, loving home, whether the parents are gay or not (eQuality, 2005). With that statement in 2008 from the individual who holds the most powerful authority in the United States, why are gay and lesbian couples today still battling adoption laws? When in fact while trying to adopt and raise children a couple’s sexual orientation should not be a factor. Homosexuals should not have to battle or circumvent adoption laws. The American family does not look the same as it did 30 years ago; therefore the adoption laws should not be the same either. Consequently, the adoption laws for some states are changing as the world evolves and realizes that a child’s well-being is more important than his or her parent’s sexual preferences. Currently, gay and lesbian couples are prohibited from adopting in only two states, Utah and Mississippi (Tavernise, 2011). Equally important is the exclusion on marriage and equal parenting rights for both parents. Some same sex households face the inequality in parental rights when children are included from previous heterosexual relationships. For example, in 2002 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that same sex adoptions should be permissible. The Supreme Court’s decision to allow same sex adoptions only came after the lower courts in Pennsylvania denied two same sex adoption petitions (Appell, 2003). The Supreme Court’s decision was based on the language included in the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). The ASFA did not exclude children who did not have any legal parents from being adopted by same sex or
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