Amendment One Dangerous and Misleading

I did not like Amendment One from the beginning because of its mean-spirited intentions.  But this editorial really started me thinking.  Then I read the report it is based on (link below), and got excited.  More to come.

 

From the Greensboro News & Record, Saturday, February 18, 2012

 

By the Rev. Pam Strader
 

The May 8 referendum to amend the N.C. Constitution “to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that will be valid or recognized in this state” is misleading. State law already defines marriage as between “a male and a female” (N.C. General Statute 51, Article 1, 51-1). To change the state constitution is a drastic act that should only be done to ensure citizens’ “safety and happiness ... and consistently with the Constitution of the United States” (Article 1, Declaration of Rights, Section 3).

Instead of protecting the safety of our citizens, Amendment One would do great harm. In a paper titled “Potential Legal Impact of the Proposed Domestic Legal Union Amendment to the North Carolina Constitution” (http://tinyurl.com/6qpastw), legal experts warn that because the bill’s language is vague and untested, “two things are clear: First, it will take courts years of litigation to settle the Amendment’s meaning. Second, when the dust clears, unmarried couples will have fewer rights over their most important life decisions than they would have had otherwise.”

Amendment One will affect all unmarried couples and children in those households, including domestic violence protections, child custody, wills, medical directives if a partner is suddenly incapacitated, and insurance coverage for families of some public employees.

It will stir up litigation that North Carolina neither needs nor can afford. As voters, it is our responsibility to uphold the Constitution in its role to protect the safety, liberty and pursuit of happiness of North Carolina citizens. Passage of similar amendments in other states has resulted in some disastrous and lethal consequences to human lives.

Let us do no harm, and let us not be indifferent to the harm this would do. Please vote “no” to Amendment One on May 8.

The writer lives in Greensboro and is an associate pastor at West Market Street United Methodist Church