catholicsphere

Federal Marriage Amendment fails, without gaining ground

This might be a shock to some who read this blog, and others who know me, but I think the Federal Marriage Amendment is a bad idea that opens up more cans of worms that it potentially closes. This coming from someone who’s been a proponent of a FMA in the past.

The Amendment would codify the definition of marriage at the federal level. Doing so represents a significant swing away from the long-held tradition of allowing states to regulate marriage laws and statutes. The reported purpose of this move is to protect marriage from activist courts that would interpret state laws in such a way as to overturn them. The fear is that doing so would force the recognition of gay marriages performed in other states by states that do not allow same-sex marriage due to Article IV of the US Constitution, the “full faith and credit clause”. Though the Supreme Court has traditionally held a “public policy exemption” in the case of marriage, that is not required to continue.

The Federal Marriage Amendment, however, would take marriage regulation out of the hands of the states and move it to the federal level by setting a precedent for the federal government expanding its reach to other aspects of the marriage statutes. There’s no telling what might happen if such were to become a reality.

The Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 defines marriage as between one man and one woman for the purpose of federal laws and provisions, and includes a provision to prevent a state with a laws disallowing same-sex marriage from having to recognize same-sex marriage performed in another state. Forty-five states have similar statutes at the state level.

Make the DOMA strong enough to withstand court challenges, and write laws that respect both what people believe and the interests of the state.

[tags]doma, marriage, federal marriage amendment, congress, government, same-sex, law[/tags]