US government battles parent who name daughter ‘Allah’
A couple who wants to name their daughter, ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah has been denied a birth certificate.
The new parent, Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk who filed for a lawsuit through The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, said they gave the name Allah because it is noble.
“Simply put, we have a personal understanding that we exercise in regards to the names. It is nothing that we want to go into detail about, because it is not important. What is important is the language of the statute and our rights as parents.” Walk said.
In its defense, the state officials said the child’s surname – ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah – should either be Handy, Walk or a combination of the two, Telegraph reports.
The lawyers from Georgia Department of Public Health said that the state law requires a baby’s surname to be either that of the father or the mother for the initial birth record.
The couple says they can’t get a Social Security number for their daughter because they don’t have a birth certificate. “It is just plainly unfair and a violation of our rights,” Walk said.
Contrary to the state official’s defense, the ACLU of Georgia, Executive Director Andrea Young said that the state’s decision is an example of government overreach and a violation of the First and 14th Amendments.
Another attorney representing the family Michael Baumrind added that, “The parents get to decide the name of the child. Not the state. It is an easy case.”
