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Keywords

statutedue processlegislative intent

statutedue process

Related Cases

In re Gestational Agreement, 449 P.3d 69, 2019 UT 40

Facts

The intended parents, a married same-sex male couple, entered into a gestational agreement with a woman and her husband, intending for the woman to carry a child using one of the couple's genetic material. Under Utah law, such agreements must be validated by a court, which requires medical evidence showing that the intended mother is unable to bear a child. The district court denied their petition, stating that the statute's language clearly referred to a woman, thus excluding the male couple from obtaining a valid agreement.

The intended parents, prospective gestational mother, and her husband (collectively, Petitioners) filed a joint petition, pursuant to the statute, requesting that the district court validate their gestational agreement.

Issue

Whether the district court misinterpreted the statute by requiring an 'intended mother' to be a female parent, thereby denying same-sex male couples the ability to validate their gestational agreements.

Petitioners argue, first, that the statute, as interpreted by the district court, violates the Uniform Operation of Laws provision of the Utah Constitution, as well as the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the United States Constitution.

Rule

The court held that the statute's requirement for an 'intended mother' to be a female parent is unconstitutional as it violates the equal protection and due process rights of same-sex couples.

We therefore hold that the district court's interpretation is consistent with the manifest intent of the legislature and thus address the constitutional challenge to the statute.

Analysis

The Supreme Court analyzed the statute's language and legislative intent, concluding that the requirement for an 'intended mother' to be female was inconsistent with the rights afforded to same-sex couples under the Constitution. The court found that the statute effectively denied married same-sex male couples the same benefits available to opposite-sex couples, thus violating their constitutional rights.

Because a plain reading of section 78B-15-803(2)(b) works to deny certain same-sex married couples a marital benefit freely afforded to opposite-sex married couples, we hold the statute violates the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, under the analysis set forth in Obergefell.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court reversed the district court's decision, holding that the 'intended mother' requirement was unconstitutional and could be severed from the remainder of the Act, allowing the gestational agreement to be validated.

We therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Who won?

The intended parents, a married same-sex male couple, prevailed because the Supreme Court found that the statute's requirement violated their constitutional rights.

The Petitioners N.T.B. and J.G.M. (Intended Parents) are a married same-sex male couple.

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Keywords

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