Oklahomans recently woke up to find that a federal court had wiped out their policy stating that kids do best in a home with a mom and a dad. In what some are calling a calculated strategy, a law forbidding same-sex adoption was torn out of the books. The ruling could impact other states as well.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that "Oklahoma's adoption amendment is unconstitutional in its refusal to recognize final adoption orders of other states that permit adoption by same-sex couples."
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the ruling applies to every other state in the court's jurisdiction as well.
"The adoption order from a California court is a judgment that must be afforded full faith and credit because of the U.S. Constitution's requirement that it do so," he told Family News in Focus.
David Dunn of the Oklahoma Family Policy Council said the amendment passed because gay couples were flocking to the state to adopt.
"That's why the bill was actually passed in 2004, to make it clear that Oklahoma didn't want to support same-sex adoptions," he said.
The ruling isn't playing well in the Sooner State.
"Once again, we have federal judges that come along and overrule the will of the state just to push the agenda of those that are trying to shake the foundations of our culture," Dunn said.
Hausknecht said the court had some encouragement to rule the way it did.
"This was a calculated move by Lambda Legal," he said, "to advance the law in the homosexual activists' quest for the whole gamut of equality that they are demanding."
