To prevent unseemly wrangles and "forum shopping" in child-custody cases, federal law--to be exact, the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1980--enjoins states to honor child-custody rulings already made by other states.

To prevent unseemly wrangles and "forum shopping" in child-custody cases, federal law--to be exact, the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1980--enjoins states to honor child-custody rulings already made by other states. Well and good: but the federal Defense of Marriage Act (1996) permits states to decline to recognize same-sex unions blessed by other states. It was only a matter of time before these two federal laws collided. Here is Lisa Miller of Virginia, who was briefly joined by the authorities of Vermont in a civil union with one Janet Jenkins. The union was soon blessed with a child Isabella, born to Ms. Miller. Little more than a year later, however, the couple broke up. Ms. Miller found religion, forswore her former inclination, and took little Isabella back to Virginia, a state which does not recognize civil unions. So: Does Ms. Jenkins have visitation rights with the child? Yes, ruled a Vermont court. No, ruled a Virginia court. King Solomon had a brisk solution to this sort of thing, but in the present state of our culture the issue will more likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when same-sex partners can conceive.