Bush Pushes for FMA, Pro-family Leader Warns against 'Counterfeit' Unions
'Without the protection of that amendment, we are at the mercy of activist federal judges who could determine that marriage no longer consists of a union between a man and a woman'
President Bush will continue to push for a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman during his second term, said White House political strategist Karl Rove yesterday on “Fox Sunday News.”
"Without the protection of that amendment, we are at the mercy of activist federal judges or activist state judges who could, without the involvement of the people, determine ... that marriage no longer consists of a union between a man and a woman,” Rove said.
He added, "Marriage is a very important part of our culture and our society. If we want to have a hopeful and decent society, we ought to aim for the ideal. And the ideal is that marriage ought to be and should be a union of a man and a woman," said Rove.
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"We cannot allow activist local elected officials to thumb their nose at 5,000 years of human history,” he said.
Earlier this year Bush supported unsuccessful efforts to ban same-sex marriage which intensified after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom defied Ca.’s marriage laws and allowed nearly 4,00 same-sex couples to receive marriage licenses and Massachusetts Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Bush backed the Federal Marriage Amendment, which applied a common definition of marriage for all 50 states between two heterosexuals, thereby banning same-sex marriage. But the proposed amendment was blocked in the Senate. A similar marriage amendment, dubbed the “Marriage Protection Amendment,” went before the House but failed to garner enough votes to pass.
However, pro-family groups and other supporters of traditional marriage were encouraged after seeing all 11 states with ballot amendments banning same-sex marriage approve the measures on Election Day.
“There is absolutely no question as to where Americans stand on this issue,” Robert Knight, director of CWA’s Culture & Family Institute, said in a Nov. 3. “The eleven states with amendments on the ballot represent diverse populations that have come together to defend marriage."
Knight said amendments in eight states also bar civil unions and other facsimiles of marriage. “It’s no contest. Americans are saying ‘yes’ to marriage and ‘no’ to ‘gay’ counterfeits.”
The President opposes same-sex marriage but has said the issue of civil unions should be left up the states.
Rove confirmed the President’s stance on civil unions Sunday. "He believes that there are ways that states can deal with some of the issues that have been raised, for example, visitation rights in hospitals or the right to inherit or benefit rights, property rights. But these can all be dealt with at the state level without overturning the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman," he said.
While pro-family conservatives praise the 11-state marriage sweep, Knight warned that “civil unions are being touted as a compromise” in an editorial published in the Nov. 8 edition of USA Today.
“But they are just gay marriage by another name,” he wrote. “That's why nearly a dozen states have enacted constitutional marriage amendments that also bar civil unions. They don't want government endorsing homosexuality.”
Knight said, “The law protects marriage because it is irreplaceable” but noted that homosexuals are free to bequeath property, issue power of attorney, enter contracts and obtain medical access without creating a counterfeit of marriage.”
He also said homosexual behavior is immoral and unhealthy and promoting it will put the well-being of children at risk.
“Civil unions are a Trojan horse for gay marriage - and more,” Knight concluded.
