Breaking: Utah Judge Reverses Decision, Will Not Force Foster Child To Be Taken From Same-Sex Couple
After national outrage over his decision, a Utah judge has agreed to reverse his ruling against a married same-sex couple. For now.
Judge Scott Johansen has just reversed a decision he handed down this week that originally ordered the Utah Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to remove a child from its foster parents because they are gay. April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce of Carbon County, Utah, are a married couple who are raising two other children, and were approved to be foster parents after the usual process of home inspections, interviews, and other vetting measures.
But Judge Johansen claimed that he had found studies proving same-sex parents are bad for children, and that children raised by heterosexual parents perform better, and ordered the one-year old girl to be removed by this coming Tuesday evening.
LOOK:Â Utah Judge’s Ruling Removing Foster Child From Gay Parents Opposed By Everyone Involved
The judge has vacated his previous order, but he still can reinstate it. There are additional hearings scheduled for this month and next month, according to Fox 13‘s Ben Winslow in Salt Lake City. Winslow notes the judge “seems to be backing down on his order.”
Winslow also posted this tweet:
The judge WILL allow the foster child to remain with the lesbian couple. @fox13now #utpol #LGBT pic.twitter.com/9djWoFzNMi
— Ben Winslow (@BenWinslow) November 13, 2015
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This is a breaking news and developing story. Details may change. Stay tuned.Â
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