Arkansas ballot to contain proposed ban on unmarried foster parents
- United States
- 08/26/2008
Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels has certified a ballot measure which could prohibit gays, lesbians and other unmarried cohabiting couples from becoming either foster or adoptive parents. Daniels announced Monday that the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee had submitted petitions containing the valid signatures of more than 85,000 registered voters – nearly 25,000 more than needed to place the measure on the November ballot. The proposed act provides, in part, that
(a) A minor may not be adopted or placed in a foster home if the individual seeking to adopt or to serve as a foster parent is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage which is valid under the constitution and laws of this state.
(b) The prohibition of this section applies equally to cohabiting opposite-sex and same-sex individuals.
The measure further stipulates that “it is in the best interest of children in need of adoption or foster care to be reared in homes in which adoptive or foster parents are not cohabiting outside of marriage.” The group Arkansas Families First has announced plans to challenge the ballot measure in court because of alleged duplications, forgeries and other irregularities in the petitions submitted to Daniels.
The ballot measure follows a 2006 Arkansas Supreme Court decision that struck down an administrative regulation specifically prohibiting homosexuals from rearing foster children. Reacting to that decision, then-Gov. Mike Huckabee suggested that such a ban be implemented through legislation. Arkansas, like many states, has amended its constitution to prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages. An initiative prohibiting same-sex marriage is on the ballot in California this year despite an attempt to remove it. That measure would overcome a California Supreme Court decision holding that a ban on same-sex marriage violates the state constitution.
