Utah judge takes baby from lesbian foster parents. Is that legal?
April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce, a lesbian couple living in Carbon County, Utah, say the foster baby they have raised for the last three months will be removed from their home within the next seven days after a judge ruled the baby would be better off in a heterosexual home.
Both a court spokeswoman and Ashley Sumner, an agency spokeswoman for the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, have confirmed that Judge Scott Johansen鈥檚 order Tuesday was indeed decided on account of the couple鈥檚 sexual orientation. Judge Johansen did not provide specifics, but he claimed to have evidence that children do better in life with heterosexual parents as opposed to homosexual parents.聽
鈥�,鈥� Ms. Hoagland told KUTV News in Salt Lake City. 鈥淚t hurts me really badly because I haven鈥檛 done anything wrong.鈥�
Even after last summer鈥檚 US Supreme Court ruling that made gay marriage legal across the country, state laws still govern adoption and foster care.
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Recognizing that lesbians and gay men can be good parents, the vast majority of states no longer deny custody or visitation to a person based on sexual orientation. State agencies and courts now apply a "best interest of the child" standard to decide these cases. Under this approach, a person's sexual orientation cannot be the basis for ending or limiting parent-child relationships unless it is demonstrated that it causes harm to a child -- a claim that has been routinely disproved by social science research. Using this standard, more than 22 states to date have allowed lesbians and gay men to adopt children either through state-run or private adoption agencies.聽
... two states (Florida and New Hampshire) have laws that expressly bar lesbians and gay men from ever adopting children. In a notorious 1993 decision, a court in Virginia took away聽聽2-year-old son simply because of her sexual orientation, and transferred custody to the boy's maternal grandmother. And Arkansas has just adopted a policy prohibiting lesbians, gay men, and those who live with them, from serving as foster parents.聽
The couple feels Judge Johansen imposed his own religious beliefs in the ruling.
On Thursday,聽Gov. Gary Herbert told reporters that he is puzzled by the ruling, which child welfare officials said they are reviewing for a possible challenge.
"He may not like the law, but he should follow the law. We don't want to have activism on the bench in any way, shape or form," the governor said.
Herbert added that the judge should not "inject his own personal beliefs and feelings in superseding the law."
Hoagland and Ms. Peirce were approved as foster parents earlier this year after passing background checks and interviews with Utah鈥檚 Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS).聽
鈥淗e鈥檚 never been in our home, never spent time with the child in our home or our other children so ,鈥� Peirce told KUTV.
Both the foster child鈥檚 state-appointed attorney and the baby鈥檚 biological mother support the couple. Mandie Torgerson, the attorney for the baby鈥檚 biological mother, says the judge鈥檚 order because she wants her child to stay with her designated foster mothers.
Brent Platt, the Director of Utah鈥檚 DCFS, told KUTV he has not seen the judge鈥檚 order but his caseworkers must comply regardless. He says he will have his division鈥檚 attorneys took at the judge鈥檚 order to make sure there is legal reason to remove the child.
鈥淚f we feel like [Johansen鈥檚] decision is not best for the child,鈥� Mr. Platt told The Salt Lake City Tribune, 鈥渁nd we have a recourse to appeal or change it, ."听
The state has about 2,600 children now in foster care, and Platt says they need the help of all qualified and loving married couples.
鈥淔or us, it鈥檚 what鈥檚 best for the child,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ny loving couple if they are legally married, and meet the requirements, .鈥�
鈥淲e just want sharing, loving families for these kids,鈥� Sumner told the Associated Press. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 really care what that looks like.鈥澛�
鈥淲e have a lot of support,鈥� Peirce told The Salt Lake Tribune. 鈥淒CFS wants us to have the child, the Guardian Ad Litem wants us to have the child, the mother wants us to have the child, so is the judge.鈥�
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has also tweeted her support for the couple.
鈥淏eing a good parent 鈥� thousands of families prove that,鈥� she said.
Johansen has been . In 1995, he was reprimanded for slapping a belligerent 16-year-old boy in the Price Courthouse and in 2014 he ordered a woman to cut off her daughter鈥檚 ponytail as punishment for cutting off the hair of a 3-year-old girl. Johansen offered to remove 150 hours of community service from the girl鈥檚 sentence if the mother agreed to cut her daughter鈥檚 ponytail in court.聽
Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.
