Gay rights advocates: Iowa Supreme Court ruling should 'shut the door' on controversy

DES MOINES - Gay rights advocates say the Iowa Supreme Court's Friday ruling on the side of a lesbian couple from Des Moines should “shut the door” on any further legal controversy over same-sex marriage in the state.

“I appreciate this issue has been part of the political debate, and I expect it may continue to be,” said Camilla Taylor, an attorney with Lambda Legal who represented MacKenzie Gartner and her married parents, Heather Martin Gartner and Melissa Gartner. “Legally, this court came down on the side of equality.”

The Gartners sued the Department of Public Health after the department refused to issue a birth certificate for MacKenzie that had both Heather and Melissa as parents, even though the couple was legally married at the time of MacKenzie's birth.

In a 6-0 ruling written by Justice David Wiggins, the court held that excluding both parents from the birth certificate was a violation of the equal protection clause under the Iowa Constitution.

The court dismissed the Department of Public Health's arguments that birth certificates need to reflect who the biological parents of a child are in order to keep accurate records for medical purposes.

The 29-page decision notes the department does not keep parentage records when an anonymous sperm donor is used and defines a birth certificate primarily as a legal document, not a medical one.

“By naming the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a married lesbian couple's child, the child is ensured support from that parent and the parent establishes fundamental legal rights at the moment of birth,” Wiggins wrote. “Therefore, the only explanation for not listing the nonbirthing lesbian spouse on the birth certificate is stereotype or prejudice."

Taylor and Lambda Legal also sued the state in a similar case involving a Quad-City couple, Jennifer and Jessica Buntemeyer, who were seeking to have both their names listed on their late child's death certificate.

The Buntemeyer's won their case at the trial level, and the state did not appeal to the Supreme Court. The state sent the Buntemeyer's a corrected death certificate in February, Taylor said.

Donna Red Wing, executive director of the advocacy group One Iowa, cheered the court's decision.

"One Iowa celebrates this unanimous decision from the Iowa Supreme Court today that finally makes clear that the Iowa Department of Public Health must respect MacKenzie's family,” Wing said in a prepared statement. “The ruling today is a victory for all Iowa families as it directs the Iowa Department of Public Health to end its shameful practice of denying children their legal bond to both parents."

Tim Albrecht, spokesman for Gov. Terry Branstad, said the governor “will review the decision.”