JURIST - Paper Chase: Arkansas Supreme Court strikes down regulation against same-sex foster parents

[JURIST] The Arkansas Supreme Court Thursday struck down [ruling, PDF] a regulatory provision barring same-sex couples from raising foster children, saying that it found no connection between homosexuality and child-rearing ability. The state child welfare agency had appealed a lower court ruling against section 200.3.2 of the Arkansas Minimum Licensing Standards of the Child Welfare [PDF text], which states in part that "No person may serve as a foster parent if any adult member of that person's household is a homosexual." The Supreme Court agreed with the trial court that "the regulation did not promote the health, safety and welfare of foster children and, thus, the Board exceeded its authority in legislating for public morality."

The Texas legislature passed a similar law [JURIST report] last April that would bar same-sex couples from becoming foster parents. Last December, the UK parliament granted adoption rights to same-sex couples [JURIST report]. AP has more.

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