Tag Archives: adoption

Abortion and IVF roundup

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Texas IVF patients are dealing with a lot of uncertainty right now. Heather Burzlaff has four embryos in a freezer in Dallas and she doesn’t know what to do with them. After seven years of medications, egg retrievals and waiting, … Continue reading →

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Ken Paxton’s hatred of LGBTQ+ people continues unabated

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Item #1: Texas attorney general’s office sought state data on transgender Texans. Employees at the Texas Department of Public Safety in June received a sweeping request from Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office: to compile a list of individuals who … Continue reading →

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“Safe haven” laws are also not a replacement for abortion

Posted on September 6, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Continuing a theme. What are safe haven laws? A flurry of Houston baby abandonments in the ’90s led Texas to become the first state to enact a safe haven law in 1999. Created as an incentive for parents in crisis who are unable … Continue reading →

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Adoption is not a replacement for abortion

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Anyone who tells you otherwise is at the very least misinformed. More likely, they’re just lying. Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the loss of abortion access in many states, some conservative leaders have suggested abortion is unnecessary … Continue reading →

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Bill to allow discrimination in adoptions and foster care passes the House

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Shameful. Under House Bill 3859, which advanced on a 94-51 vote, providers would be protected from legal retaliation if they assert their “sincerely held religious beliefs” while caring for abused and neglected children. The measure would allow them to place … Continue reading →

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House bathroom bill will not get a committee vote

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Good news. A proposal to gut cities and school districts’ trans-inclusive bathroom policies did not advance in the House ahead of a crucial deadline, nixing the measure’s chances of getting a vote by the full chamber. But that doesn’t mean … Continue reading →

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A happy ending

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

This was a long time coming. When I first reported on this family a year ago, the boys – who had behavioral issues and delays likely stemming from abuse, neglect and being shuttled through foster placements – had just been … Continue reading →

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The Sugarek/Jeffery family is back together

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Wonderful news. Seven weeks after Child Protective Services caseworkers removed the boys following their foster mothers’ repeated complaints about suspected abuse by an older sibling living elsewhere in foster care, a CPS supervisor brought them back. The move followed a … Continue reading →

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A personal story of CPS’ failure to protect children

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I can’t begin to tell you how angry this makes me. The new foster parents opened the door last September to a child they can only describe as feral. At 3, he was obese, his brown saucer eyes shell-shocked, his … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS upholds same-sex adoption rights

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Awesome. The U.S. Supreme Court in a victory for gay rights ruled Monday that states must honor adoptions by same-sex parents who move across state lines. Citing the Constitution’s “full faith and credit” clause, the justices in a unanimous opinion … Continue reading →

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Transgender people can now get correct birth certificates

Posted on January 16, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Excellent news. Last week, Texas began giving trans people the option of sealing their old birth certificates and issuing new ones, according to Dallas attorney Katie Sprinkle. Previously, Texas issued amended certificates and those were only issued with a surgeon’s … Continue reading →

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Paxton asks to be excused from contempt hearing

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

He promises he’s been a good boy, so can he please come out of time out now? Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office says he shouldn’t face a contempt hearing for failing to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage … Continue reading →

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Paxton gets a deadline

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Better stick to it. In an order late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia also instructed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and the Texas Department of State Health Services to approve all pending applications for death and birth certificates … Continue reading →

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State Health Services department finally amends that death certificate

Posted on August 8, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Complying with a federal court order, Texas has issued an amended death certificate acknowledging a Conroe man as the husband of a same-sex spouse who had died in January. The men had been married in New Mexico in 2014, … Continue reading →

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Revisiting birth certificates

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This is one of those next steps that needs to be taken. After the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, some gay and lesbian couples in Texas have raised questions about another legal document – birth certificates. They want Texas … Continue reading →

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House chubfest kills several bad bills

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news, though as always at the end of a session, the outcome isn’t clean and the details are very murky. As the clock struck midnight, the failure of an anti-abortion initiative — dear to the hearts of the … Continue reading →

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There’s still time for bad bills to be passed

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Bad bill #1: After four hours of debate and more than a dozen failed amendments offered by Democrats, the Senate on Monday gave preliminary approval to far-reaching restrictions on minors seeking abortions in Texas without parental consent. On a 21-10 … Continue reading →

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Two anti-gay bills advance

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Look out. Gay rights advocates began sounding the alarm Wednesday after two anti-LGBT bills cleared House committees and another received a favorable hearing. Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, said if LGBT groups and their corporate allies don’t … Continue reading →

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Still no action on fixing birth certificates

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s shameful that this doesn’t have the votes to get out of committee. Prior to a hearing on a bill that would permit faith-based adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBT people, Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) delivered an impassioned speech on … Continue reading →

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Trying again to fix birth certificates

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

This is encouraging. A Republican committee chairman smacked down an anti-LGBT witness Wednesday during a hearing on a proposal to allow same-sex parents to have both their names on the birth certificates of adopted children. Julie Drenner, of Texas Values, … Continue reading →

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Fixing birth certificates

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Trying again, with some hope for progress. The Texas Legislature added a provision to the Health & Safety Code in 1997 requiring supplemental birth certificates issued to adoptive parents to contain the name of one female, the mother, and one … Continue reading →

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It shouldn’t be this hard to get a driver’s license

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

And for most people it isn’t that hard. But for some people, it is. Daniela Parker has two mothers, a circumstance that turned a typically routine matter – scheduling a road test for a Texas driver’s license – into a … Continue reading →

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Texas same sex marriage plaintiffs want the get oral arguments scheduled

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

They would like to get on with their lives, if it’s not too much trouble to Greg Abbott and the Fifth Circuit. Austin lawyer Nicole Dimetman is pregnant and expects to give birth for the first time on March 15, … Continue reading →

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Abbott’s appellate brief on same sex marriage is a complete loser

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

How weak does your case have to be to have to rely on this? Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed an appeal with the U.S. 5th Circuit Monday regarding the state’s same-sex marriage ban, which was ruled unconstitutional by a … Continue reading →

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It really is about more than just marriage

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Jo Ann Santangelo writes for the Observer about what it means to be in a same-sex marriage that isn’t recognized as legal by the state of Texas. In 2012, my wife, Kate, and I traveled more than 3,400 miles from … Continue reading →

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Equality is about more than marriage

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s about families, and lots of other things, too. Joe Riggs and Jason Hanna never expected to make national news after a surrogate mom gave birth to their twins. Riggs, 33, and Hanna, 37, have been together almost four years. … Continue reading →

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Pride

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So yesterday was the annual Pride parade in Houston. It was greeted by this sweet article in the lifestyle section. Today’s Pride Festival will celebrate the diversity of the Houston area’s thriving gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. That diversity … Continue reading →

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