Calif. Bill Would Allow Kids to Have More than Two Parents

By Newsroom America Staff at 3 Jul 2012

(Newsroom America) -- In keeping with its trend-setting reputation, state lawmakers in California are considering legislation that would allow children to have more than two parents.

The Sacramento Bee quoted state Sen. Mark Leno, who said his bill, which has passed the Senate and is currently under consideration in the Assembly, would bring "California into the 21st century, recognizing that there are more than Ozzie and Harriet families today," he said.

He added that surrogate births, same-sex parenthood and assisted reproduction are changing society and as such are creating both non-traditional households and relationships, the paper reported.

The legislation, SB 1476, would not expand who could qualify as a parent, just eliminate the current two-parent limit.

The paper reported that Leno's bill would require a judge to intervene and decide issues of custody, visitation and child support if three or more people who acted as parents could not come to an agreement.

The bill has its detractors.

"It comes as no surprise that he would try to say that a child has more than two parents – that's absurd," Benjamin Lopez, legislative analyst for the Traditional Values Coalition, said in blasting the San Francisco Democrat's legislation.

Opponents went onto say allowing multiple parents in a single section of law will inevitably open up other sections for litigation.

That would include tax deductions, citizenship, probate, public assistance, school notifications and Social Security rights, according to the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists.

"This bill, in our opinion, if passed, will cause significant unintended consequences," Diane Wasznicky, the group's president and a family law attorney in Sacramento, told the paper.

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