Arkansas stops issuing birth certificates

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Arkansas officials say they won't issue or amend birth certificates in response to a judge's order halting the program until the state complies with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to amend a state birth certificate law it says illegally favors heterosexual parents.

The state Department of Health said Friday it will take information from those seeking birth certificates for when officials can resume issuing them. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox earlier Friday blocked the state from issuing the birth certificates.

Fox also set aside his orders requiring the state and three same-sex couples go into mediation on how to fix the state law to comply with the U.S. high court's order. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge earlier this week asked the state Supreme Court to stay or lift Fox's mediation order.