Marriage amendment proposed in Indiana Senate

By Brigid Curtis Ayer

A proposal to amend Indiana’s Constitution to protect the traditional definition of marriage is being considered by the Indiana Senate, and expected to pass the Senate before Valentine’s Day—an action the Indiana Catholic Conference is supporting.

Sen. Carlin Yoder (R-Middlebury), the author of the marriage amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 13, said, “I think it’s important to protect the institution of marriage. We simply want to make it clear what marriage means, and this resolution will do that. It is a call to strengthen marriage.

“As we’ve seen in other states across the country, there is a continued effort to try to change the traditional definition of marriage through the court system,” Yoder said. “Even though state law defines marriage in the traditional way between one man and one woman, the sooner we get a definition in Indiana’s Constitution the better off the State of Indiana will be.

“The new language in Senate Joint Resolution 13 is better than the marriage amendment language which passed the Senate in 2007 because it shores up any concern that same-sex couples would be denied access to their partners in hospital visits or other situations,” Yoder said. “The legislation is not an attack on gays and lesbians. The approach to this is fair. It still allows access for same-sex couples to see each other, but makes clear what marriage is.”

Glenn Tebbe, ICC executive director, who serves as the official representative of the Catholic Church in Indiana in public policy matters, testified in support of the bill this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee and reiterated the Church’s position on same-sex unions.

In a 2003 document published by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on “considerations regarding proposals to give legal recognition to unions between homosexual persons,” it concluded, “The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions.

“The common good requires that laws recognize, promote and protect marriage as the basis of the family, the primary unit of society,” the document noted. “The Church cannot fail to defend these values, for the good of men and women, and for the good of society itself.”

Tebbe agrees with Sen. Yoder and others that while the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the legislative intent of marriage when the law was challenged in January 2007, in the case of Morrison v. Sadler, future challenges to Indiana’s marriage law might result in it being overturned.

“A constitutional amendment, such as Senate Joint Resolution 13, would keep the definition of marriage intact,” Tebbe said. “That’s why the Church is supporting it.”

A marriage amendment passed the Senate in 2007, but failed to get a hearing in the Indiana House.

In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage and allows the states to do the same.

Under DOMA, Indiana does not have to recognize same-sex unions granted in other states, such as Massachusetts, which allow same-sex marriages. Neither current statute nor DOMA protects against the reinterpretation of the statute by a legal challenge.

According to the Alliance Defense Fund, a non-profit organization promoting traditional marriage, 30 states have adopted marriage amendments as part of their constitutions. The average pass rate vote by the people in states where marriage amendments exist was nearly 70 percent. Only five states have neither a statute nor a constitutional provision that prohibit same-sex marriage, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Rhode Island.

Iowa, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont are the only states that have legalized same-sex marriage. Iowa, Massachusetts and Connecticut legalized same-sex marriage as a result of high court decisions. Vermont and New Hampshire legalized same-sex marriage as a result of legislation.

When asked if he thought the legislation would pass the committee, Sen. Yoder said, “I’m very confident we will get a vote and the Senate Judiciary Committee will pass the amendment, and that it will pass the full Senate. But I am not at all confident that the House will act on it.”

To amend the Indiana Constitution, a proposal must pass two separately elected General Assemblies and be supported by a majority of Hoosiers in a referendum vote.

Sen. Yoder said the soonest year that the marriage amendment could be put on a referendum for Hoosier voters would be 2011. For it to reach the ballot, the Indiana General Assembly would have to pass a marriage amendment in 2010 and 2011. The amendments would have to pass in identical form both years.

(To stay informed about the Church’s legislative action at the Statehouse, log on to the ICC Web page at www.indianacc.org and click on “Legislative Updates” to view the most current information.) †