Jersey couple react to ‘amazing’ birth certificate changes – BBC

Report on Legal Reforms in Jersey and Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction: Legislative Progress on Family Equality

Recent legal reforms in Jersey have enabled same-sex couples to have both parents’ names legally recorded on their child’s birth certificate. This development, which follows nearly a decade of campaigning, marks a significant step towards recognizing and supporting diverse family structures. The case of Jen and Sarah Hopley, one of the first couples to amend their son’s birth certificate under the new law, highlights the personal and legal importance of this change. This reform directly supports the principles outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Alignment with SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

The legislative amendment is a clear advancement towards achieving SDG 10, which aims to reduce inequality within and among countries. By rectifying a legal disparity, the government of Jersey has taken concrete action to ensure equal rights for all citizens, regardless of sexual orientation.

1. Elimination of Discriminatory Practices: The new law removes the previous legal framework that discriminated against same-sex couples, granting them the same parental rights and responsibilities as mixed-sex couples.
2. Promotion of Social and Legal Inclusion: By legally recognizing both parents, the reform promotes the full social and legal inclusion of LGBTQ+ families, ensuring their children are afforded the same legal protections and parental recognition as others.
3. Equal Legal Identity: The ability to have both parents on a birth certificate ensures a child’s legal identity fully reflects their family structure, reducing legal and administrative hurdles for the family unit.

Contributions to SDG 5: Gender Equality

This reform also contributes significantly to SDG 5, which focuses on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. The law challenges traditional gender-based definitions of parenthood and strengthens the legal standing of parents in non-traditional family structures.

• Equal Recognition of Parental Roles: The law ensures that parental status is not determined by the biological act of carrying a child, but by the shared commitment to parenting. In the case of the Hopley family, the parent who provided the egg but did not carry the child is now legally recognized, affirming equal parental status irrespective of gender roles.
• Empowerment and Rights: It grants equal legal rights and responsibilities to both parents, empowering individuals in same-sex relationships to have their parental role formally and legally validated.

Strengthening Institutions under SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

The enactment of this law is an example of progress towards SDG 16, which promotes peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provides access to justice for all, and builds effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions.

1. Development of Inclusive Institutions: The government’s action demonstrates a commitment to creating inclusive legal institutions that reflect and serve the needs of a modern, diverse society.
2. Ensuring Access to Justice: The reform provides a legal remedy and access to justice for families who were previously denied equal recognition. The ability to amend a birth certificate is a tangible form of legal redress.
3. Responsive Governance: The change in law, resulting from a sustained campaign by advocates, illustrates a responsive and accountable governance process that addresses calls for equality and justice from civil society.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

1. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
   • The article directly addresses inequality. It highlights that before the law was changed, same-sex couples had “fewer legal responsibilities and rights compared to mixed-sex couples.” The reform aims to reduce this legal and social inequality by granting equal parental recognition.
2. SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
   • This goal is relevant as the article focuses on a legal reform (“change in the law”) that strengthens justice and creates more inclusive institutions. The issue revolves around legal identity documents (birth certificates) and ensuring that laws are non-discriminatory and reflect modern society. The government’s action to reform the law is an example of building effective and inclusive institutions.
3. SDG 5: Gender Equality
   • While the article focuses on a same-sex couple, the underlying principle is the elimination of discrimination, which is central to SDG 5. The case involves two women, Jen and Sarah Hopley, who were previously denied equal parental rights. The law change promotes equality and ends a form of discrimination that affects individuals based on their sexual orientation and family structure.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Target 10.3: Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard.
   • The article is a clear example of this target in action. The previous law was a discriminatory policy that created an inequality of outcome for same-sex parents. The “change in the law” described is the exact “eliminating [of] discriminatory laws” that this target calls for to ensure equal opportunity in parental rights.
2. Target 16.9: By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.
   • The core subject of the article is a “birth certificate,” which is the primary document for legal identity. The change in law ensures that the child’s legal identity fully and accurately reflects their parentage. Jen’s statement, “Now I get to be a parent,” signifies the legal recognition that was previously denied, thus providing a more complete and inclusive legal identity for the child and the parents.
3. Target 16.b: Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development.
   • The government of Jersey’s action to amend the law is a direct implementation of this target. By changing the legislation to allow both same-sex parents’ names on a birth certificate, they are actively promoting and enforcing a non-discriminatory law. The government’s statement that the reforms “recognised and supported modern family structures” confirms this intent.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. Existence of non-discriminatory laws regarding legal identity.
   • The article’s entire focus is on the “change in the law.” The existence of this new, non-discriminatory law is a direct and measurable indicator of progress. One can track the number of jurisdictions that have laws guaranteeing equal parental recognition on birth certificates for same-sex couples. The article documents Jersey moving into the category of having such a law.
2. Inclusive birth registration.
   • The ability of Jen and Sarah Hopley to “alter their son’s birth certificate” to include both their names is a specific indicator. Progress towards Target 16.9 can be measured not just by the percentage of births registered, but by the inclusivity of that registration process. The article implies that the number of birth certificates amended or issued under this new law serves as a practical indicator of its implementation.

Summary Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: bbc.com