Catholic Review Online: Marriage … the beginning of the end?

H.E. Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, Archbishop of Baltimore, has posted his weekly article to his column, "Thoughts on Our Church." This is just a brief look at what he has to say:

Each year at the conclusion of the Maryland General Assembly’s 90-day session, a list of the session’s “best-sellers” – the bills most inquired about by the general public – is published by the Legislative Services Department. This session’s best-sellers include two measures which add a new term to our health and tax laws: “domestic partners.” The term refers to any two people who are not related by marriage or blood, who affirm they are in a “relationship of mutual interdependence,” and who demonstrate their interdependence by jointly renting a car, leasing an apartment, or opening a checking account. Same-sex couples can claim the designation; so can unmarried opposite-sex couples.

The public’s interest in the two bills was reflected in news coverage during the General Assembly session. Public hearings in Annapolis attracted considerable media coverage and the same-sex aspect of the measures was the frequent focus of op-ed page pieces in The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, and other newspapers.

Yet, when Governor O’Malley signed the bills into law two weeks ago, one was hard-pressed to find any mention of them at all. On the day following the signing ceremony, Maryland’s two major dailies included articles about some of the bills the governor signed, but, curiously, one article did not mention the domestic partner bills at all and the other did so only in its final paragraph. One wonders whether our lawmakers will take credit for their domestic-partnership handiwork when they report to their constituents on the bills they approved this year. It’s likely that, like the major newspaper dailies, most of them hope the voters won’t find out.

Even if any of our elected policymakers failed to recognize the perilous road these bills put us on when they voted for them, they do now. Subsequent to the bills’ approval by the General Assembly, but just prior to the governor’s signing them into law, the California Supreme Court ruled that laws which assign the same benefits to married couples and domestic partners cannot exist together under the same constitution. The court then proceeded to declare that a law defining marriage as a relationship involving one man and one woman is unconstitutional.

His Excellency finishes with the question and observation, "Isn't it time for action...There will be a next time." Our Ordinary is asking us to take action...now! He indicates that "You can contact your area’s lawmakers by visiting the Web site of our Maryland Catholic Conference at www.mdcathcon.org."