Order to Take Baby From Lesbian Couple Reversed
(Updated 11/13 with court’s reversal)
A Utah judge has reversed a decision to take a baby away from her lesbian foster parents and place her with a heterosexual couple after widespread backlash.
Court officials on Friday released an order signed by Judge Scott Johansen that will allow the 9-month-old baby to stay with April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce.
It comes after Johansen said in court Tuesday that the baby was would be removed from the couple’s home. Utah officials and the couple filed court challenges demanding the judge rescind the order.
In his first decision, Johansen cited research that shows children do better when raised by heterosexual families. However, the American Psychological Association has said there’s no scientific basis that gay couples are unfit parents based on sexual orientation.
Utah state child welfare officials on Wednesday were reviewing a ruling by a juvenile court judge who ordered a baby to be taken from lesbian foster parents and instead placed with a heterosexual couple for the child’s well-being.
Judge Scott Johansen’s order Tuesday in the central Utah city of Price raised concerns at the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, agency spokeswoman Ashley Sumner said.
STORY: Homeless Family Fighting for Custody of Kids
The ruling came during a routine hearing for April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce. They are part of a group of same-sex married couples who were allowed to become foster parents in Utah after last summer’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made gay marriage legal across the country, Sumner said.
State officials don’t keep an exact count but estimate there are a dozen or more foster parents who are married same-sex couples.
STORY: Military Mom Returns From War to Discover She Must Fight for Custody of Kids
Attempts to reach Hoagland and Peirce on Wednesday were unsuccessful, but the couple told KUTV that they are distraught after the ruling that calls for the baby girl they have been raising for three months to be taken away within a week.
Hoagland and Peirce, and as seen in a tweet by Secretary Hillary Clinton. (Photo: Twitter)
They said Judge Johansen cited research that children do better when they are raised by heterosexual couples. Hoagland believes the judge actually imposed his religious beliefs.
“We are shattered,” she told the Salt Lake City TV station. “It hurts me really badly because I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Judge Johansen is precluded by judicial rules from discussing pending cases, Utah courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said.
A full transcript of his ruling has not been made public and may not be because court records of cases involving foster children are kept private to protect the kids, Sumner said.
Sumner said she can’t speak to specifics of the case but confirmed that the couple’s account of the ruling is accurate — the judge’s decision was based on the couple being lesbians. The agency isn’t aware of any other issues with their performance as foster parents.
The agency is tasked with trying to keep children with one family as long as the parents are providing adequate care.
All couples are screened before becoming foster parents.
“We just want sharing, loving families for these kids,” Sumner said. “We don’t really care what that looks like.”
The ruling triggered a heated response from the Human Rights Campaign. The gay rights group called the order shocking, outrageous and unjust.
(Photo: Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
Please follow @YahooParenting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Have an interesting story to share about your family? Email us at YParenting (at) Yahoo.com.
