New Supreme Court Ruling on Gay Parental Rights

In Pavan v. Smith (582 U.S. ___) (No. 16–992), on June 26, 2017, the United States Supreme Court told Arkansas they cannot deny same sex couples the right to be on their child’s birth certificate. If Arkansas will give straight parents that benefit, they must extend the same to same sex couples. All States who have been denying this birth certificate right will likely feel compelled to comply as well (at least if they have presumed parent laws for opposite sex spouses, which most states have). Hopefully, the ruling will—by extension—also aid non-biological parents in disputes between same-sex couples.
Congrats to NCLR and team for this victory.
New Justice Gorsuch (of course) joined Thomas and Alito to dissent. Justices Kennedy and Chief Justice Roberts did not sign but did not join the dissent, which was a pleasant surprise since Roberts opposed Obergefell. If Kennedy retires and Trump appoints another far-right Conservative like Gorsuch, it is looking like Roberts may well be the deciding vote in many cases.