The Arkansas Department of Health has
asked a judge to stay his ruling ordering the agency to record the
names of both spouses in a same-sex marriage on the birth
certificates of their children.
Circuit Judge Tim Fox of Little Rock
delivered his ruling from the bench on Monday.
Citing long-established regulations,
the Arkansas Department of Health's Vital Statistics Bureau has
refused to list both parents in a same-sex marriage on their
children's birth certificates.
Three lesbian couples, all married,
challenged the department's policy.
Fox's order only applies to the three
plaintiff couples in the case but the judge said that he would
consider broadening the scope of his order to include all married gay
couples with children living in Arkansas.
According to the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette, the health department has asked the judge
to stay his order, claiming that it does not go into effect until it
is issued in writing. Fox is expected to issue a written order
sometime in December.