Definitely NO Reason to Redefine Marriage

Len Deo, President, NJ Family Policy Council

The Civil Union Commission – stacked with same-sex activists – issued a recent report saying that they believe civil unions are not working.  Yet only 7 formal complaints have been filed with the state out of the 2400 same-sex couples who have entered into civil unions. Complaints concern out-of-state-based companies which are regulated by the Federal Employment Retirement Security Act (ERISA) and therefore are not required to provide expensive health benefits to same-sex couples.  Any additional complaints regularly cited by activists are legally unsubstantiated, including insinuations that hospitals have denied visitation – an accusation which an official from the NJ Hospital Association insists is absolutely false. 

Likewise, the claim that Massachusetts corporations are more likely than those in NJ to voluntarily provide health benefits to same-sex couples simply because the law gives them the title “marriage” is completely anecdotal, as noted on the NJ State Bar Association website.  A representative at the non-partisan Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington DC confirmed that ERISA applies equally to all states, and that the only reason why companies in Massachusetts might be more likely to provide same-sex benefits could be the new universal health care plan offered by the state in 2006.  It requires any corporation that pays into it for their employees to provide same-sex couples with benefits according to state law.

The real issue must remain paramount – there is still NO need to redefine marriage.  Only 0.3% of all those in civil unions have filed complaints.  The fact is the NJ Legislature responded to the NJ Supreme Court in a proper manner and the civil union law has succeeded in legally providing same-sex couples with all the state rights and benefits of married couples.  Redefining marriage in NJ to include same-sex couples would do nothing to force federally regulated companies to provide benefits.   

We have seen the repercussions of redefining marriage elsewhere, and should learn from it: parents have lost the right to stop their primary public school children from homosexual indoctrination, free speech is denied, religious speech is curtailed, and business owners are sued and heavily fined for running their business according to their deeply held religious beliefs.  Marriage rates decline to the detriment of children; and the tax burden increases as government must fiscally provide for more broken families. 
 
Sixty-one percent of New Jerseyans believe that same-sex couples have a right to live as they choose but they do not have the right to redefine marriage for the rest of society.  Therefore, the legislature must “Let the People Decide” this critical issue and put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot to preserve marriage between one man and one woman only.  It is the only measure that will stop same-sex activists and legislators from redefining marriage for all of us.
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Courier Post – point/counterpoint – Mike Daniels
As per our conversation attached is the point/counterpoint op-ed as we discussed

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