Judiciary bill aims to affirm parental rights of the blind

People who have lost their sight should not also lose their civil liberties.

But that is happening all the time in Minnesota courts and elsewhere when blind people face wrongful discrimination based solely on their disability, said Rep. Aisha Gomez (DFL-Mpls).

“Because of fear and misconceptions about blindness, parents who are blind experience disproportionally high rates of child removal and loss of parental rights,” said Gomez. “Blind people can parent as well as anybody else.”

Rep. Aisha Gomez

She sponsors HF2458, which would establish specific court procedures and grant rights to blind parents in adoption, child protection, and custody and parenting time cases.

“If the decision is made to restrict or deny any of these rights, then the bill requires an articulation about the reason for that decision, to show that no discrimination has occurred,” Gomez said.

The House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee laid the bill over Thursday for possible omnibus bill inclusion. Sen. Mark Koran (R-North Branch) sponsors the companion, SF1370, which awaits action by the Senate Civil Law and Data Practices Policy Committee.

The bill would:

• prevent a court or agency from denying an adoption petition due solely to a petitioning party’s blindness;
• prohibit individuals from filing a child protection petition based solely on a parent’s blindness; and
• prevent family courts from denying or restricting parental visitation time or custody solely due to the parent’s blindness.

In each situation, a court or state agency denying or restricting the parental rights of a blind person would need to first articulate “clear and convincing evidence that specific behaviors of the parent will endanger the health or safety of the child.”

“The right to parent is an important civil right and parents who are blind should not be discriminated against based on their disability, but rather provided any necessary supportive parenting services,” wrote Maren Hulden, staff attorney at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.

“Full inclusion will mean that Minnesotans who have disabilities are part of every facet of society, including parents,” Hulden said.

Government social service agencies and courts make false assumptions about blindness all the time, said Steve Jacobson, vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota.

He said his organization has documented thousands of cases of successful parenting by people who are blind.

“Blindness is not by itself a relevant factor on whether a person is fit to be a parent,” he said.