Efforts to Block State Marriage Measures Could Keep MPA Alive
by Bill Fancher
June 16, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A pro-family leader says a tactic being used by opponents of the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) may actually force Congress to revisit the issue for a third vote. If passed, the federal measure would amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage nationwide as only a union of one man and one woman and would also prohibit extension of marriage-like rights to homosexual couples and other unmarried people.
One reason many Democrats have given for blocking the passage of the MPA is their feeling that it is an individual state's right to define marriage. However, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council is calling attention to the fact that some marriage amendment opponents have filed lawsuits against several U.S. states in efforts to block states' legislative efforts to do just that -- to define marriage for themselves.
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Tony Perkins |
Perkins says several states that have enacted marriage laws or constitutional amendments in an effort to protect the traditional definition of marriage have been targeted in lawsuits brought by homosexual "marriage" proponents. "There's a pending decision in Washington State," he points out, as well as "a pending decision in New Jersey." Also, the pro-family leader notes, "there are seven states that actually have active court challenges to their state amendment, and two to the federal Defense of Marriage Act." If any of these decisions goes against the wishes of the vast majority of the voters in the state, he contends, it could force federal lawmakers to reconsider the MPA this year.
"There could be action by the United States Senate, when and if that occurs," Perkins says. A previous Senate weigh-in on the MPA fell short of the 60 votes required to invoke cloture on the debate, with 49 senators voting to put the measure to a vote and 48 voting against cloture.
Liberal Senator from Massachusetts Calls Support for MPA 'Bigotry'
Meanwhile, recent comments from Senator Edward Kennedy about the national debate over the definition of marriage have outraged many conservatives and landed the Massachusetts Democrat in hot water with several of his colleagues.
In an editorial that appeared in the June 5 Boston Herald, Kennedy declared that a vote for the MPA "is a vote for bigotry -- pure and simple." He also accused Republicans of using the controversy for political leverage and asserted that a vote for the marriage amendment represents "a vote against ... efforts by states to treat gays and lesbians fairly under the law" and in favor of a measure that would "impose discrimination on all 50 states."
In response to Kennedy's remarks, one conservative senator has remarked that a real disconnect exists between Democrats and the will of the people when it comes to the marriage issue, and the senator's comments are proof of that. But many of his fellow Democrats are distancing themselves from the liberal lawmaker's rant as well, and even some of his fellow senators have chastised him for statements they consider overly harsh.
Gary Bauer | |
The senator's comments were shocking as well as insulting, according to conservative activist Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families. "Politicians often put their feet in their mouth," he says, "but Senator Kennedy has set a new record, I think, in the number of people he managed to insult in about 15 words." By denouncing support for the MPA as bigotry, Bauer says Kennedy -- who is a Catholic -- has now called the Pope and the Catholic bishops bigots, in effect, along with two thirds of the American people. He points out that the average approval rating in state marriage amendment votes has been 70 percent in favor of protecting the traditional definition of marriage.
With his recent comments on the national marriage debate, Senator Kennedy "has just smeared the overwhelming majority of the American people, the leadership of the church he is a member of, and the leadership of virtually every other religion on the face of the globe," the Campaign for Working Families spokesman says. "If that is the position the Democratic Party wants to defend in the years ahead," he adds, "I wish them luck."
Bauer says Kennedy and other Democrats who oppose a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage are "going to have a hard time convincing U.S. voters that all the laws on the books in our country that say that marriage is between a man and a woman are evidence of bigotry." That position, the conservative activist contends, is going to be a tough one to sell to America.
Bill Fancher, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
