By Terry Vanderheyden
OLYMPIA, Washington, November 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Washington State Supreme Court judge ruled Thursday that the former lesbian partner of a child’s biological mother can be considered the “de facto parent” of the ten-year-old girl the mother conceived by artificial insemination. The girl’s mother, Page Britain, is now married to the girl’s biological father after separating from her lesbian lover.
Sue Ellen Carvin sued Britain in 2002 after she was denied visitation of the girl conceived in 1995. Chief Justice Bobbe J. Bridge, writing for the majority, said that “in the face of advancing technologies and evolving notions of what comprises a family unit, this case causes us to confront the manner in which our state . . . defines the terms ‘parents’ and ‘families.’” The ruling, approved by seven of nine Supreme Court judges, means that Carvin can now sue for custody and visitation rights.
“Imagine the Pandora’s box that opens,” said one of Britain’s attorneys, Erica Krikorian, according to an AP report. “Anytime somebody comes along and cohabitates – in a heterosexual or homosexual relationship – all of a sudden, add water and you’re creating these rights. You have to be careful who you’re letting your kids hang out with.” Britain’s attorneys are recommending an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Britain’s co-counsel, Brian Krikorian, said, “This decision puts every single parent on notice: Anytime you allow another adult to assist in raising your child, you could potentially be giving that person 50-percent authority over your child.”
Justice James Johnson, dissenting from the majority opinion, condemned the court for its “judicial decree” that brought in a new method for determining who a child’s parent is. “Regardless of the various sexual orientation claims, the outcome must be that a mother has a fundamental right to make decisions for her child,” he stated. “The majority’s ruling fails to provide any protection for Britain’s fundamental constitutional right as a fit mother to make decisions concerning the upbringing of her own daughter. Worse, in my view, the majority here looks beyond a detailed and complete statutory scheme adopted by the Washington Legislature and creates by judicial decree a new method for determining parentage.”
Rev. Joseph Fuiten, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Network, a Washington group campaigning against legalization of same-sex “marriage,” condemned the ruling. “They’ve changed the definition of parents today; they’ll change the definition of marriage tomorrow. Who do these people think they are?”
Bobbe Bridge, Justice
Washington State Supreme Court
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PO Box 40929
Olympia, WA 98504-0929
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attn Justice Bobbe Bridge
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