This has left the nation with a crazy-quilt of family law that offers no blanket protection to parents who are parents in every sense of the word except for biology. The absence of clear Supreme Court action means that state laws are needed to grant psychological parents visitation rights. Massachusetts is among the few states to allow judges to grant custody or visitation rights to people unrelated to the child if the court determines it is in the child's best interest. More such laws are needed nationwide. Family law should apply to families of all shapes, not just the traditional married couple, biological parents and their offspring.
Justice demands it.
And so does compassion for the rights of children and the adults they rightly view as parents. Used with permission.