The Utah Supreme Court issued a stay on Friday temporarily halting adoptions by second parents in legally wed same-sex couples. In December, the US District Court for the District of Utah ruled that Utah's constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage violate due process and equal protection. In light of the court's overturning the ban, over 1,300 same-sex couples wed in Utah before the US Supreme Court put a temporary hold on the marriages two weeks later while the state appealed the district court ruling. The Utah Supreme Court's ruling comes in response to several state court judges' orders requiring the Utah Department of Health to issue birth certificates in same-sex parent adoptions. The court has not yet announced a date for oral arguments.

The legal debate over same-sex marriage is one of the most active legal issues in the US. In recent months a number of states have faced challenges regarding the constitutionality of denying same-sex partners equal spousal rights. The Idaho Supreme Court ruled unanimously in February that a woman in a same-sex marriage may adopt her partner's birth children, setting the precedent for second-parent adoption in Idaho. The rule is not limited to same-sex couples, affirming the law in Idaho that any state resident over 18 may adopt a child if the statutory requirements are met. A week before US Attorney General Eric Holder announced the federal government plans to give married same-sex couples the same benefits as heterosexual couples when filing for bankruptcy, testifying in court or visiting family members in prison. On Monday four legally married same-sex couples in the state of Ohio filed a lawsuit in federal court, seeking a court order to force the state of Ohio to recognize both spouses' names on birth certificates.

(Published by Jurist – May 18, 2014)