Indiana Appealing Lesbian Couples' Parental Rights Order

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana attorney general has decided to appeal a federal judge's order that the state list both spouses in lesbian marriages as parents on their children's birth certificates.

The appeal will challenge U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt's June ruling in favor of eight lesbian couples who sued the state and some county health departments.

Attorney general office spokesman Corey Elliot tells The Indianapolis Star the appeal aims to defend statutes enacted by the Legislature. The notice of appeal was filed Jan. 20 and no legal arguments have yet been submitted to the appeals court.

An attorney for the couples, Karen Celestino-Horseman, says she believes U.S. Supreme Court rulings give same-sex couples the same protections as heterosexual couples.