Utah officials review judge’s order to take baby from lesbian foster parents

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah child welfare officials are reviewing an order by a juvenile court judge to take a baby from her lesbian foster parents and place her with a heterosexual couple, to determine what options they have to possibly challenge the order.

Judge Scott Johansen’s ruling Tuesday raised concerns at the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, agency spokeswoman Ashley Sumner said. The judge’s order calls for the baby girl the couple has been raising for three months to be taken away within a week.

Human rights groups have expressed shock at the ruling, and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton tweeted that “Being a good parent has nothing to do with sexual orientation — thousands of families prove that.” Her tweet linked to a story about the ruling.

The ruling came during a routine hearing for April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce. They are part of a group of same-sex married couples who were allowed to become foster parents in Utah after the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made gay marriage legal across the country, Sumner said.

Attempts to reach Hoagland and Peirce on Wednesday were not successful, but the couple told KUTV that they are distraught.

The couple said the judge cited research that children do better when they are raised by heterosexual couples, but Hoagland said she believes Johansen actually imposed his religious beliefs.

“We are shattered,” she told the Salt Lake City TV station. “It hurts me really badly because I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Johansen is precluded by judicial rules from discussing pending cases, Utah courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said.

A full transcript of the ruling has not been made public and may not be because court records of cases involving foster children are kept private to protect the children, Sumner said.

Sumner said she can’t speak to specifics of the case but confirmed that the couple’s account of the ruling is accurate — the judge’s decision was based on the couple being lesbians. The agency isn’t aware of any other issues with their performance as foster parents.