BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1951
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Date of Hearing: April 8, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Richard Pan, Chair
AB 1951 (Gomez) - As Amended: March 25, 2014
SUBJECT : Vital records: birth certificates.
SUMMARY : Requires the State Registrar to modify birth
certificates to recognize same-sex couples, allowing for a
gender neutral option on the certificate identifying a "parent."
EXISTING LAW :
1)Proscribes the duties of the State Registrar, including, but
not limited to, furnishing all forms for birth, death, fetal
death, and marriage certificates.
2)Requires the State Registrar to appoint a Vital Statistics
Advisory Committee with the following duties:
a) To make recommendations to the State Registrar as to the
adequacy of procedures to assure accuracy and
confidentiality of personal health and medical information;
b) To review the findings of the Committee for the
Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS);
c) To assure that all research conducted using the data
from birth certificates is consistent with guidelines
provided by CPHS;
d) To review and make recommendations to the State
Registrar as to proposals for addition or deletion of items
on the certificate of live birth and to advise the State
Registrar on the content and format of the certificate;
and,
e) To take testimony and make recommendations to the State
Registrar regarding changes in the birth registration
system.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
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COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, the current
practice in completing a birth certificate limits the choices
for a same-sex couple, forcing same-sex parents to
inaccurately place one of their names in the "Father" or
"Mother" field. The author further states that this bill will
allow same-sex parents to accurately identify each parent as
Mother, Father, or Parent in check boxes, allowing for birth
certificates to reflect two mothers or two fathers, as well as
a gender-neutral parent option.
2)BACKGROUND . The vital records system was initially
established to record births, fetal deaths, and deaths
occurring in California. In addition to documenting these
vital events, the statistical data derived from these records
is used to develop a health status profile for the State. The
purpose of the vital records system is twofold: a) to
establish a permanent record that is legally recognized, and;
b) to provide a means for studying the statistical data for
health evaluation and planning purposes.
In 2005, the State Registrar began allowing State Registered
Domestic Partners (SRDPs) to be added to the birth certificate
pursuant to the California Domestic Partner Rights and
Responsibilities Act of 2003 (AB 205 (Goldberg, Kehoe, Koretz,
Laird, and Leno), Chapter 421, Statutes of 2003). Based on
this legislation, same-sex parents in a SRDP could add their
names to the mother and father name fields. The birth mother
was asked at the time of birth if she was married or in a
state-registered domestic partnership. If the mother replied
yes, then the father's name field was opened and she could add
the name. If the mother replied no that she is not married
and/or in a SRDP, then the paternity laws (for unmarried
parents) went into effect and the parents were required to
sign paternity papers to add the father's name. These are the
same rules Department of Public Health-Vital Records (DPH-VR)
currently uses to add the father/parent's name to the birth
certificate.
In 2007, the State Registrar revised the California
Certificate of Live Birth to be in compliance with AB 258
(Goldberg), Chapter 947, Statutes of 2004, which requires all
revised state-issued forms be gender neutral. Based on this
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section of law, the father and mother name fields were updated
to include "/Parent," for example "Father/Parent" and
"Mother/Parent." Same-sex parents were then no longer
required to add a slash (/) in front of their first name on
the birth certificate. According to 2010 United States Census
Bureau statistics there are 594,000 same sex-couple
households, 115,000 of which reported having a child, 90,023
of which are in California.
In the case of adoptions, for a child born in California, the
Court Report of Adoption is forwarded to DPH-VR and a new
birth certificate is prepared and mailed to the parents. If
the child was born in another state, DPH-VR forwards the Court
Report of Adoption to the vital records office in the state of
birth so they can prepare the new birth certificate.
3)SUPPORT . Equality California, the sponsor of the bill writes
that it will allow same-sex couples to eliminate inaccurate
designations on California birth certificates, stating that
the current forms that designate parents as just "mother" and
"father," regardless of the gender of the parent are
confusing, often inaccurate, and do not reflect the realities
of modern families.
The Gay & Lesbian Center states in support of this bill that,
as it currently stands, the California birth certificate has
room to write only the names of a father and mother and this
limited option forces two mothers or two fathers to write one
parent's name in a field that does not accurately describe his
or her relationship to the child, nor does this option
properly respect same-sex relationships.
The Williams Institute supports the bill and writes that it
would benefit same-sex couples and their children by ensuring
that both parents can be recognized as mothers and fathers on
their children's birth certificates, and that this change
would be consistent with the multitude of California laws that
grant equal parenting rights to same-sex co-parents.
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4)RELATED LEGISLATION .
a) AB 2275 (Ridley-Thomas) would authorize the State
Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder to accept
requests for birth certificates via email. AB 2275 is
currently pending in the Assembly Health Committee.
b) AB 2528 (Skinner) would require the State Registrar to
ensure that diacritical marks on English letters are
properly recorded on birth certificates. AB 2528 is
currently pending in the Assembly Health Committee.
5)PREVIOUS LEGISLATION .
a) AB 205 establishes the California Domestic Partner
Rights and Responsibilities Act, which gives equal
consideration to birth mothers with state-registered
domestic partners.
b) AB 258 provides notice to state agencies that in the
usual course of reviewing and revising all public-use forms
referring to or using the terms spouse, husband, wife,
father, mother, marriage, or marital status, appropriate
references to state-registered domestic partnership are to
be included.
6)SUGGESTED AMENDMENT . Some of the most important information
about the health of Californians comes from vital records,
such as leading causes of death, low birth weight babies, and
the mother's access to prenatal care. Vital records data are
used throughout the state and nation for analysis of health
trends, program planning, and policy development. This data
is collected by identifying the birth mother of the infant on
the birth certificate, and identifying the birth mother as
parent could hinder the use of this data. The author may want
to consider amending this bill to allow DPH to adopt any
regulations necessary to implement this bill, with the goal of
maintaining the integrity of vital statistics data collected
on the confidential portion of the birth certificate.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Equality California (sponsor)
Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of Los Angeles
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Steve Hansen, Sacramento City Councilmember, District Four
American Civil Liberties Union
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
(AFL-CIO)
California Coalition for Youth
California Communities United Institute
California Psychological Association
City of Los Angeles
City of West Hollywood
Courage Campaign
Gay & Lesbian Center
Glover-Silva Foster Family Home
Growing Generations
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Our Family Coalition
Planned Parenthood of California
Sacramento LGBT Community Center
Stonewall Democratic Club
The Williams Institute
Transgender Law Center
Numerous Individuals
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Lara Flynn / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097