The Virginia Supreme Court will move a step closer on Thursday to deciding whether a lesbian woman will win custody of her ex-partner’s child, a decision that could undermine the state’s marriage amendment.
Janet Jenkins, who has no biological or adoptive ties to Lisa Miller’s 6-year-old daughter, Isabella, is seeking parental rights because she was in a relationship with Miller when the child was born. Miller got pregnant through artificial insemination from an anonymous donor, and the couple eventually ended the relationship.
Though Miller and Jenkins are Virginia residents, the Vermont Supreme Court, which issued the couple’s civil union in 2000, recently granted parental rights to Jenkins. However, the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is in place to protect states like Virginia from being forced to recognize another state’s same-sex union. Further, Virginia has a Marriage Affirmation Act and a constitutional amendment that define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America (CWA), said this is a crucial case because the Virginia Supreme Court will decide whether Miller and her child will be bound by Vermont law.
“This is such a critical case because it affects the rest of the nation,” she said. “If the Virginia Supreme Court rules that a lesbian can have parental control over a child that has no biological connection or any legal connection then this would wipe away the authority of DOMA, of the state constitutional amendment that defines marriage, and the state law that defines marriage.
“It could also challenge the work that pro-family activists have done for over a dozen years to protect marriage.”
Matt Barber, CWA’s policy director for cultural issues, said this case is of paramount national importance.
“Not only is a little girl’s spiritual, emotional and physical well-being at stake,” he said, “the Virginia Supreme Court will essentially be signaling whether states like Vermont and Massachusetts get to radically redefine marriage and family for the rest of the country.”
CWA is holding a prayer rally for Miller and Isabella Thursday morning outside the capitol courthouse.
“Lisa has become a Christian and is dedicated to raising her child in the ways of God,” Wright said. “So we’re asking people to pray for Lisa Miller, to pray for her child and to pray for a just outcome from the Virginia Supreme Court.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Learn more about Concerned Women for America’s prayer rally.
