Gay couples OK’d to adopt; abstinence-only sex ed cut

DENVER - Gov. Bill Ritter signed new laws Monday, among them, one that allows samesex couples to adopt and one that eliminates abstinence-only sex education.

The first-year Democratic governor had come under pressure from religious groups to veto the measures, but said in a statement he thinks the laws will help children — the sex-ed bill by preventing unintended pregnancies and the adoption bill by giving kids a better chance to grow up in a stable home.

“This law gives children in a one-parent family a chance to grow up in a two-parent home,” Ritter said. “We must do all we can to strengthen families and provide children with as stable an environment as possible. This law will give children a better chance to succeed.”

House Bill 1330 by Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, allows the joint adoption of children by unmarried couples, including gays and lesbians, unmarried heterosexual partners and relatives seeking to help single mothers. Colorado becomes the 10th state in the country to allow such second-parent adoption.

House Bill 1292 by Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, requires that school districts use scientificbased standards if they teach sex education. It allows for abstinence lessons but mandates that districts that offer them must also teach about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases.

Religious organizations and adoption agencies complained the adoption bill allows children to be too easily assigned to adults who are not their parents.

Religious groups objected to taking away the option of teaching only abstinence, saying it will cost schools federal grants for abstinence instruction.

Ritter also signed 24 other bills, three of them by El Paso County legislators:

- House Bill 1156 by Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan, requires that residential property sellers list their source of water, an attempt to avoid more situations such as the dry land sold to people in the Rancho Colorado community south of Colorado Springs.

- House Bill 1327 by Rep. Amy Stephens, R-Monument, and Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, clarifies that a creditor may include a delinquency notice and charge with a periodic statement that is sent with each installment payment.

- House Bill 1340 by Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, clarifies that a crime victim must be informed of any attempt to appeal or overturn a conviction and that victims of sex crimes must be informed when the perpetrator files to stop registering as a sex offender.

CONTACT THE WRITER: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com