BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1951
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1951 (Gomez)
As Amended August 12, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |53-14|(May 8, 2014) |SENATE: |26-4 |(August 14, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY : Requires the State Registrar, beginning January 1,
2016, to modify birth certificates to recognize same-sex
couples, allowing for a gender neutral option on the certificate
identifying a "parent."
The Senate amendments make technical and conforming changes to
maintain current law until January 1, 2016, operable date of new
sections. Clarify current law regarding what information a
parent is required to give and what information may be provided
on a voluntary basis by moving appropriate language to the same
code section. Maintain the linkage between birth mother, if
applicable, and confidential vital statistics.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : 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.
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), Chapter 421,
Statutes of 2003. Based on AB 205, same-sex parents in a SRDP
could add their names to the mother and father name fields. The
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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 California Department of Public Health - Vital Records
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 to be gender neutral. Based on this 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.
Equality California, the sponsor of this 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 Williams
Institute supports this bill and writes that this change would
be consistent with the multitude of California laws that grant
equal parenting rights to same-sex co-parents.
The Pacific Justice Institute opposes this bill because it
"appears to promote political correctness and special interests
at the expense of the integrity of state vital records."
Analysis Prepared by : Dharia McGrew / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
FN: 0004641
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