Good news: The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear a case “that would have had far-reaching implications for lesbians and single women choosing to bear children,” according to law professor Nancy Polikoff, author of Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law
The case involves a Kansas woman whose sperm donor claimed she had said he could be a full parent to the twins she bore. They had no written agreement, however, and the woman denied the claim. The man then asked the Kansas Supreme Court to rule as unconstitutional a Kansas statute denying donors parenthood without written agreement. The Kansas court ruled against him, and he appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court (with a little help from the right-wing Alliance Defense Fund).
Polikoff notes, “The Supreme Court has never spoken on parental rights in a case involving any assisted reproduction technique,” and now “Other states considering new laws on assisted conception can go forward without the cloud of a possible Supreme Court ruling on donor’s rights hanging over their heads.”
See Nancy’s blog for more details, including both good and bad parts of the Kansas statute that now stands.
