House Bill 537, by Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas), would allow same-sex parents to have both names on the birth certificates of adopted children.
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On Monday, the committee quietly voted 7-4 to advance HB 537, with Cook and Rep. Patricia Harless (R-Spring) joining five Democrats who voted in favor of the bill. Four Republicans voted against it, while two others were absent.
“This is a simple, common-sense bill that helps children,” Equality Texas legislative specialist Daniel Williams said. “It shouldn’t surprise anyone that it passed with bipartisan support.
“At this point it will be a challenge to get the bill to the House floor before the deadline next week, but it’s still a realistic possibility,” he added.
See here and here for the background. This is a big achievement, even if the bill has long odds of even coming up for a vote on the House floor. Kudos to Rep. Anchia for his persistence and to Rep. Cook for giving the bill a fair chance.
I can’t see how anyone who is truly fiscally conservative would not approve this. Putting the names of both people who are responsible for the child on the birth certificate makes it much easier to ensure that the child is supported by parents, and not the taxpayers. I’m sure gay people split up just like everyone else, and having the names of both partners on the birth certificate makes it easier for the custodial parent to make sure the non custodial partner keeps paying for the kid rather than saying, it isn’t really mine. Yes, it’s yours…..you agreed to it on the birth certificate. There are no take backs now that you have split up.
I am not an authority, but I understand there are other issues which arise about who must be present to enroll children in school, to make medical decisions, to authorize a school trip, etc. If the primary parent is out of town on business, the other cannot act for these purposes, as I understand the problem.
@ Mainstream:
Good points. Gay adoptive parents should be entitled to whatever documents straight adoptive parents get.