Court strikes down Florida adoption law
Court strikes down Florida adoption law
From Journal Sentinel wire reports
Thursday, April 24, 2003
West Palm Beach, Fla. — A Florida court struck down a law Wednesday that required mothers who want to give a child up for adoption to publicize their sexual histories in newspaper ads.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal said the law violates privacy rights and substantially interferes with a woman’s independence in choosing adoption.
The court also said the state failed to show how the rights of the father or the state could outweigh the privacy rights of the mother and child “in not being identified in such a personal, intimate and intrusive manner.”
The state’s lawyers had refused to defend the law, which was heavily criticized because it required mothers, including rape victims and underage girls, to widely publish potentially embarrassing information. Adoption advocates said the law even encouraged abortions.
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