NOM BLOG

Attorney: Defense of Marriage Act Protects Kids

 

John Mauck, a Chicago attorney, submitted a pro-DOMA brief on behalf of the Manhattan Declaration.  He writes in the Washington Times:

The Manhattan Declaration describes marriage as “the first institution of society… on which all other human institutions have their foundation.” Understanding what marriage is – and why it matters – could not be more important.
Pending before the Supreme Court is USA v. Windsor, in which Edith Windsor, a lesbian claiming unfair treatment under federal estate tax law, seeks a declaration that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Because resolution of that and a companion case will decide how the Equal Protection Clause applies to marriage laws, the Court decision will not only affect federal policy, but will almost certainly impact outcomes in various states in a number of cases seeking to invalidate traditional marriage.

... If marriage is redefined, eventually millions of our children who are subject to adoption, foster care or custody disputes will be placed in living situations not based on the child’s best interest, but based on the new family structures the Supreme Court or individual states have decreed to be normative. For example, after Illinois enacted the Domestic Partnership Act, Attorney General Lisa Madigan warned Illinois child placement agencies of enforcement action if they “discriminate” based on marital status (including single, homosexual and unmarried). Ms. Madigan’s threat implicitly subordinates the “best interest of the child” standard to political dogma.

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