Page:Fourie v Minister of Home Affairs (SCA).djvu/9

Rh because sexual orientation is specifically listed in the Bill of Rights, but on wider grounds of dignity and privacy. Same-sex partners have been held to be entitled to access to statutory health insurance schemes. The right of permanent same-sex partners to equal spousal benefits provided in legislation has been asserted. The protection and nurturance same-sex partners can jointly offer children in need of adoption has been put on equal footing with heterosexual couples. The right of a same-sex partner not giving birth to a child conceived by artificial insemination to become the legitimate parent of the child has been confirmed. The equal right of same-sex partners to beneficial immigrant status has been established. And this Court has developed the common law by extending the spouse's action for loss of support to partners in permanent same-sex life relationships.

The importance of these cases lies not merely in what they decided, but in the far-reaching doctrines of dignity, equality