A judge in Utah has removed a baby from the care of lesbian foster parents, saying the infant would do better in life if raised by a heterosexual couple.
The Utah TV news station says April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce have been caring for the baby for three months but Judge Scott Johansen ordered the infant removed from their house in seven days, saying studies showed that children do better when raised by heterosexual couples.
“We are shattered,” said April.
April and Beckie are legally married and were approved as foster parents in Utah earlier this year after passing home inspections, background checks and interviews.
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has Tweeted her support to the couple saying: “Being a good parent has nothing to do with sexual orientation—thousands of families prove that.”
April and Beckie told KUTV they were “distraught after the ruling, which called for the baby girl they have been raising for three months to be taken away within a week”.
They said Johansen “cited research that children did better when raised by heterosexual couples” but Beckie believes the judge was “imposing his religious beliefs”.
