US Supreme Court Fear: Same-sex couples update their legal status

Emails and phone calls from same-sex couples, concerned about the legal status of their marriages and the support of their children, flooded the office of attorney Sydney Duncan hours after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion .

The sentence at the end of June did not directly affect the 2015 decision that paved the way same-sex marriage. But, Duncan said, it was still a warning shot for same-sex parent-led families who fear their rights. it can evaporate like those of people trying to terminate a pregnancy.

“This has scared a lot of people and I think so rightly,” said Duncan, who specializes in representing members of the LGBTQ community at Birmingham’s Magic City Legal Center.

The three most liberal members of the court warn in their dissent that the sentence against abortion could be used for question other personal freedoms: “Either the majority opinion is hypocritical, or there are other constitutional rights threatened. Either one or the other.”

This prospect alarms some LGBTQ couples, who worry a return to an era in which the same rights were lacking compared to heterosexual couples married by law. Many, fearful that their marital status is in danger, are moving now to resolve potential medical, parental and hereditary problems.

Dawn Betts-Green and his wife Anna Green wasted no time prepare legal documentation after the decision. To start, they’ve already gone to a same-sex family law firm the process of making a will.

“That way, if we are taken back to the Middle Ages, we will have legal protection for our relationship,” said Betts-Green, who works with an Alabama-based nonprofit that documents the history of LGBTQ people in the south.

As a white woman married to a black transsexual, Minneapolis-based Robbin Reed feels particularly vulnerable. A decision affecting same-sex marriage or interracial partnerships would disrupt Reed’s life, including the couple’s 3-month-old son.

“I don’t expect anything in my marriage will be safe,” said Reed, a paralegal.

Reed’s employer Sarah Breiner of the Breiner Law Firm is hosting seminars in both the Minneapolis metropolitan area and the Atlanta area to help same-sex couples cope with potential legal needs after marriage.

Breiner said they help people keep calm the future is part of his work these days.

“We don’t know what can happen”

“We don’t know what’s going to happen, and that’s the problem,” Breiner said.

In a sign of things to come, the state of Alabama has already cited the abortion ruling to ask a federal appeals court to allow the application of a new state law that makes prescribing blockers a criminal offense for doctors. of puberty and hormones to trans people undergoing the age of 19.

The decision that gives states the power to restrict abortion means that states should be able to do so too ban medical treatment for transgender young peopledepending on the state.

Any attempt to annul gay marriage would begin with a lawsuit, and any possible rollback is years away, as there are no major legal threats on the horizon, said Cathryn Oakley, senior advisor and state legislative director for human rights campaign. based in Washington, an LGBTQ community advocacy organization.

“It’s definitely a scary time and people are nervous, but marriages are still safe,” Oakley said.

Although the threat to same-sex couples is particularly strong in conservative statesOakley said in recent days that she has heard of people across the country seeking second parent adoption, who protects a family by having the names of both adoptive parents on the birth certificate.

People also fill out medical directives in case one of the spouses is disabled and they do general estate planning.

Ryanne Seyba law firm, in Hollywood (Florida), offers free adoptions by a second parent, similar to adoptions from stepparents, eligible same-sex couples, to help alleviate some of the stress caused by the possible side effects of the abortion decision.

“We realized last week when (the ruling) came out that we had to do something,” said Seyba of The Upgrade Lawyers.

A Broward County judge plans to hold a special day in August to finalize all adoptions at once, Seyba said. If nothing else, completing the process should give anxious families more security, she said.

“If gay marriage goes away, we don’t really know what’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s better to play it safe”.

By Jay Reeves Associated Press

Associated Press reporter Kim Chandler in Montgomery contributed to this report.

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