Arizona Supreme Court says gay married couples should have equal parental rights

The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that a lesbian divorcee should be afforded the same parental rights to her straight counterparts.

The court ruled that a lesbian woman who is getting a divorce from her wife is entitled to the parental rights as protected by the US Constitution.

Tuesday’s ruling comes despite the fact that Arizona state law doesn’t protect same-sex couples.

Tucson couple, Kimberly and Suzan McLaughlin had a baby through artificial insemination but later separated.

Despite having a shared parental arrangement, Kimberly had sought different custody rights after they broke up.

And it said a precedent set by the US Supreme Court ruling in favour of same-sex marriage applies in the state.

The court went further to say that a number of state laws in Arizona should be rewirtten in order to avoid litigation from individual cases similar to this.

The women had used artificial insemination to get pregnant, but state law currently states that the man in a marriage is legally the father of any child born within 10 months of marrying.

The current laws don’t offer any protective rights to a same-sex parent in a married relationship where artificial insemination is used.

Rather than throwing out the law entirely, the court’s ruling effectively extends it to women in other similar circumstances.

• Nov 29

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