(EP News) – A new law, signed by New York Gov. David Paterson on Sept. 19, promotes children growing up in motherless or fatherless families – and undermines the strength of marriage and the family.
The law, which is effective immediately, now allows two unmarried people – including same-sex couples – to jointly adopt a child. The law also removed the reference “husband and wife” and replaced it with gender-neutral phrase “married couple.”
Since New York does not recognize same-sex marriage, but does recognize the legality of same-sex unions created in other states, many consider this law yet another attempt for same-sex couples to acquire the benefits of marriage.
Glenn T. Stanton, director of family formation studies at Focus on the Family, believes the state is on a dangerous trend – and children will receive the brunt of the negative results. According to Stanton, extensive research from multiple disciplines confirms that having both a father and a mother is not optional for a child’s well-being.
“It is either dishonest or badly uninformed to say that married mothers and fathers don’t matter for healthy child development,” Stanton wrote in a white paper on the issue. “The social sciences and the brain research show that men and women are importantly different in very meaningful and profound ways. And these differences are not only needed in creating new life, but raising that new life to healthy maturity.
“Husbands and wives becoming mothers and fathers and raising their children together in committed marital relationships transcend culture, race and religion.”
Gay adoption was also in the news in Florida. On Sept. 22, a state appeals court in Florida ruled that a Florida law barring adoption by homosexuals violates the state constitution because it lacks a “rational basis.”
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said, “Like other judges in some states’ marriage cases, they reached this conclusion only by accepting without genuine examination the claims of pro-homosexual activists, while dismissing all contrary evidence. There’s an abundance of social science evidence supporting the common-sense belief that children do best when raised by a married mother and father. Because of that, there’s every rational basis for Florida to prefer such households over those headed by same-sex couples when placing children for adoption.”
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