By Bob Katzen
The Senate 40-0, approved and sent to Gov. Healey a bill that supporters say would ensure legal parentage equality by protecting LGBTQ+ families, and children born through surrogacy and assisted reproduction, in forming the legal bond of a parent-child relationship. They said the measure would dismantle archaic legal barriers to basic parenting responsibilities for modern families, opening the door to legally attend and make decisions during medical appointments, manage a child’s finances, participate in educational decisions and provide authorizations for a child’s travel.
“Today we acted to ensure that if you are a parent, whether a biological parent or not, the law will recognize you as a parent just as society does,” said Rep. Mike Day (D-Stoneham), House Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary. “This bill will remove one of the last vestiges of the law that treats same sex parents and parents who engaged in assisted reproduction differently from every other parent. It is a good day for all families in Massachusetts.”
“With unprecedented and alarming action in other states to strip away the rights of LGBTQ+ people and our families, Massachusetts’ outdated and heterocentric parentage laws put LGBTQ+ families at risk every day,” said Sen. Julian Cyr (D-Truro). “The Massachusetts Parentage Act is personal—LGBTQ+ families like mine face excessive and expensive hoops just to ensure our children have the security of legal parentage. The Legislature’s passage of this bill is a critical step to guarantee that all children can benefit from the stability of a legal parent-child relationship no matter how they came to be in this world.”
(A Yes” vote is for the bill.)
Sen. Patricia Jehlen Yes