by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Of the 90 co-sponsors of a bill aimed at overturning the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which would open the door to same-sex marriage throughout the nation, 35 are Catholic.
According to One Nation Under God, an organization that monitors the voting practices of Catholic politicians, 35 Catholic politicians have signed on as co-sponsors of the erroneously named Respect Marriage Act (H.R. 3567) introduced by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-New York). The intent of HR3567 is to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a “legal union between one man and one woman” and protects states from having to recognize same-sex marriages from another state.
On his website, Rep. Nadler says he introduced the bill in response to a call from President Obama to do so.
The president has repeatedly stated that he wants to see DOMA overturned and recently confirmed this intention when he said: ‘I stand by my long-standing commitment to work with Congress to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. It’s discriminatory, it interferes with states’ rights, and it’s time we overturned it.”
Supporters of traditional marriage are fighting back, however. Rep. Paul Broun issued a statement urging Speaker Pelosi to stop the Nadler bill from going to the floor for a vote and to instead offer the Marriage Protection Amendment he introduced in May.
“There have been consistent attempts by judges to overturn state law and thwart the will of the people. This judicial power grab, seen most recently in Iowa, will be even more detrimental if DOMA is repealed and this power grab is expanded for federal recognition,” wrote Broun.
The Marriage Protection Amendment, (HR Res. 50) would amend the constitution of the United States to define “Marriage in the United States to consist only of the union of a man and a woman.” It currently has 39 co-sponsors.
However, attempts to pass the Marriage Protection Amendment in previous congresses have failed.
Writing on the sacredness of marriage and the Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage in “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons,” Pope John Paul II said that are “absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family. Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law. Homosexual acts close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved…Legal recognition of homosexual unions would obscure certain basic moral values and cause a devaluation of the institution of marriage.”
In this same statement, the Pope said that Catholics politicians have a moral duty to express their opposition to any law aimed at allowing homosexuals to marry, saying that a vote in favor of such harmful legislation is gravely immoral.
A list of the 35 Catholic representatives who voted in favor of repealing DOMA can be found at
http://www.onenationundergod.org/pl_cath_lawmaker_DOMA_repeal.html
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