SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown
signed legislation Friday that will allow children in California to
have more than two legal parents, a measure opposed by some conservative
groups as an attack on the traditional family.
Sen. Mark Leno
(D-San Francisco) said he authored the measure to address the changes
in family structure in California, including situations in which
same-sex couples have a child with an opposite-sex biological parent.
The law will allow the courts to recognize three or more legal
parents so that custody and financial responsibility can be shared by
all those involved in raising a child, Leno said.
"Courts need the ability to
recognize these changes so children are supported by the adults that
play a central role in loving and caring for them," Leno said. "It is
critical that judges have the ability to recognize the roles of all
parents so that no child has to endure separation from one of the adults
he or she has always known as a parent." He said his SB274 was designed for the unusual
circumstance in which more than two people have legal claims of
parentage, and a two-parent limit would be harmful to the child.
The bill was partially a reaction to a 2011 court decision involving a
lesbian couple that briefly ended their relationship, according to
Leno's office.
Leno's office offered some examples from court cases:
-- A woman who broke up with her child's biological father, then lived with a man who became the child's main caretaker and who sought to establish a parental relationship after the couple separated.
-- A bisexual woman who lived with another woman but became pregnant with a man, with all three sharing parental responsibilities.
-- A lesbian who bore a child with a sperm donor, who helped her and her partner raise the child before the birth mother declared she was no longer a lesbian and moved to terminate the others' parental rights.
-- One of the women was impregnated by a man before the women resumed their relationship. A fight broke out, putting one of the women in the hospital and the other in jail, but the daughter was sent to foster care because her biological father did not have parental rights.
In such cases, Leno said, courts in four other states and Washington, D.C., have the power to recognize three parents, who might seek custody, visitation or some other role in raising the child. He said California's two-parent limit has forced some judges to place children in foster care, even though a third person who had played a parental role was available.
"It is critical that judges have the ability to recognize the roles of all parents so that no child has to endure separation from one of the adults he or she has always known as a parent," Leno said Friday after Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill.
Leno said SB274 does not apply to grandparents, stepparents or anyone else who does not meet the state's legal definition of a parent - biologically, through marriage or domestic partnership, or by openly "holding out the child as one's own" by taking in and caring for the child.
Leno's office offered some examples from court cases:
-- A woman who broke up with her child's biological father, then lived with a man who became the child's main caretaker and who sought to establish a parental relationship after the couple separated.
-- A bisexual woman who lived with another woman but became pregnant with a man, with all three sharing parental responsibilities.
-- A lesbian who bore a child with a sperm donor, who helped her and her partner raise the child before the birth mother declared she was no longer a lesbian and moved to terminate the others' parental rights.
-- One of the women was impregnated by a man before the women resumed their relationship. A fight broke out, putting one of the women in the hospital and the other in jail, but the daughter was sent to foster care because her biological father did not have parental rights.
In such cases, Leno said, courts in four other states and Washington, D.C., have the power to recognize three parents, who might seek custody, visitation or some other role in raising the child. He said California's two-parent limit has forced some judges to place children in foster care, even though a third person who had played a parental role was available.
"It is critical that judges have the ability to recognize the roles of all parents so that no child has to endure separation from one of the adults he or she has always known as a parent," Leno said Friday after Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill.
Leno said SB274 does not apply to grandparents, stepparents or anyone else who does not meet the state's legal definition of a parent - biologically, through marriage or domestic partnership, or by openly "holding out the child as one's own" by taking in and caring for the child.
"Everyone who places the interests of children first and realizes
that judges shouldn't be forced to rule in ways that hurt children
should cheer this bill becoming law," said Ed Howard, senior counsel for
the Children's Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School
of Law.
SB
274 was opposed by advocates for traditional families, including Brad
Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, who said Friday he
was disappointed by the governor's action."This is in the long run going to be a mistake," Dacus said. "The ones who are going to pay the price are not the activists, but it's going to be children, who will see greater conflict and indecision over matters involving their well-being."
Dacus said having more than two legal parents will create the potential for greater conflict over what is best for a child and result in more complicated court fights.
The measure was opposed in the Legislature by the conservative Capitol Resource Institute, which called it detrimental to children. The group said children thrive in homes with their biological mother and father, or with adoptive parents being male and female role models.
Brown vetoed a similar bill last year, and his representatives did not return calls for comment on what changed his mind.
The governor acted on 47 bills Friday, including a measure to allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to test the use of license plates with changeable digital screens and wireless capability.
Then-Sen. Curren Price
(D-Los Angeles) introduced SB 806, to allow tens of thousands of cars
to be fitted with technology that could cut the cost of issuing metal
plates and paper registration stickers.
Price had proposed a similar bill in 2010 that would have allowed the
digital plates to periodically show ads to generate revenue for the
state, but the bill signed by the governor Friday does not include that
function. The test program will be paid for by a private vendor, involve
volunteer motorists and end in January 2017.
In response to privacy activists, the law prohibits the DMV from
using electronic devices to track the location, movement or use of
vehicles. The savings would occur because the DMV could electronically
update a plate, showing its registration, without having to send notices
back and forth by mail.
The bill was supported by Smart Plate Mobile, a company that holds a patent on a digital electronic license plate.
The governor also signed into law:
• A measure to require disability income insurance policies to cover disabilities caused by severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The bill, AB 402, was by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco).
•A measure to permit some patients in life-threatening emergencies to
receive experimental treatment without their informed consent. Under
state law, medical research cannot be performed on human subjects unless
the patient has given consent. Patients in life-threatening situations
had been temporarily exempted from the law; the bill, AB 58, by
Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont), makes that exemption permanent.
Brown vetoed a version of the bill last year that allowed a judge to recognize a third parent "in the best interest of the child." This year's version was narrower and will allow such a declaration only when the judge finds that failing to recognize more than two parents would be harmful to the child.
SB274 passed both houses on largely party-line votes. It takes effect in January.
Brown vetoed a version of the bill last year that allowed a judge to recognize a third parent "in the best interest of the child." This year's version was narrower and will allow such a declaration only when the judge finds that failing to recognize more than two parents would be harmful to the child.
SB274 passed both houses on largely party-line votes. It takes effect in January.
sources:
Los Angeles Times/ October 4, 2013, 9:27 p.m
sfgate.com/ Egelko, October 5, 2013, 5:47 p.m
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