France Broadens Gays'
Parental Rights
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, February 25, 2006
PARIS, Feb. 24th -- France's
highest court ruled Friday that homosexual parents may extend parental rights to
their partners, a move long sought by gay rights campaigners.
The Cour de Cassation approved such shared rights when the couple is living in a
stable union and when it is in the child's best interests. The judges
upheld a 2004 decision by an appeals court in Angers in central France.
It was the first time the high court granted such broad rights to a homosexual
couple in France.
''It's a real victory,'' gay rights activist Christine le Douane said on LCI
television.
The case centered around two women who registered a civil union in December
1999, after 10 years of living together. One of the partners gave birth to
two daughters through artificial insemination, but only the birth mother had
parental rights.
The birth mother sought legal permission to grant parental rights to her
partner. A court in Angers ruled against her, but the appeals court ruled
in her favor, saying that the absence of a legal father left the girls at risk
in case their birth mother were incapacitated.
In its ruling Friday, the high court determined that France's civil code does
not forbid a single mother from sharing all or part of her parental rights
''with the woman with whom she lives in a stable and continuous union, as long
as the circumstances demand it and as long as the move conforms to the child's
best interest.''
The court also noted that parental rights include the responsibilities for
protecting children and caring for their health, welfare and education.
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