Civil Union Floor Vote - National Organization for Marriage

Civil Union Floor Vote

Continue to make your voice heard by sending the two emails below. The first is to the Judiciary Committee and Senate Leadership. They will vote on the bill and any amendments at 3:30 in Room 313. Urge them to vote "No" on HB 6103 while also supporting amendments to include "inseverability," a definition of marriage, and religious liberties protections. The second email is for the rest of the Senate. Most likely, for political purposes, this bill will pass the Committee at 3:30 leading to a floor vote later in the day. Urge the rest of the Senate to vote "No" during the floor vote while still supporting the same three amendments. Even if you have called or emailed, do so today. Thank you for taking the time to make your voice heard again.

Take Action: Send a Letter

Message Recipients

Comm & Leaders

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Floor

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Review Letter for Comm & Leaders

Subject:*

Dear (recipient name),

Dear Senator,

As the Senate Judiciary Committee approaches its vote on House Bill 6103 (Civil Unions), I urge you to stop this bill.  It is a direct threat to marriage and the religious liberties of your constituents.  As has been demonstrated in hours of testimony, scores of documents, and hundreds of emails and calls, HB 6103 will be a clear invitation to the Courts of Rhode Island to mandate that you and your colleagues in the Assembly legalize homosexual marriage.

It has also been clearly demonstrated in existing case law that civil union statutes across the country have been used to sue business owners and professionals who run their practices by their deeply held religious beliefs.

House Bill 6103 in its present form will not protect marriage from redefinition nor will it protect the religious liberties and rights-of-conscience of faithful individuals.  It should be stopped in the Senate Judiciary Committee at today’s vote.

Barring that, I urge you, in order to protect marriage and religious liberties from future litigation, to amend HB 6103 in three ways:

1.	Amend Page 5, lines 16 – 18, the “Severability” clause, to an “Inseverability” clause.  Like the recently passed New York legislation, such a clause will insure that the present religious liberties protections in HB 6103 will remain in force and can be challenged only at the risk of overturning the entire statute.

2.	Insert in either or both, the Legislative Intent section of HB 6103 or the Definitions section a clear defense and definition of marriage.  The RI Supreme Court in Chambers v. Ormiston (2007) relied on the presumed definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and its interpretation of the intent of the RI Legislature in coming to its pro-marriage decision.  As HB 6103 makes no real distinction in language or intent between marriage as it presently presumed to be and the civil union of a homosexual couple, it would very likely allow the RI Courts to reverse its opinion in Chambers or follow the path of Connecticut and California in mandating that the Assembly fully redefine marriage. 
 
      3.	Finally, I urge you to extend the religious liberties exemptions presently found on page 4, lines 15 – 29, “Conscience and Religious Organizations Protected” to cover individuals as well as organizations.  Extant case law makes it clear that the legalization of civil unions is as a much a threat to the religious liberties of business owners and professionals as is homosexual-marriage.  Service providers and licensed professionals have been successfully sued or sanctioned for refusing to recognize or serve a civil union couple either in their ceremony or as a couple thereafter.  Rhode Islanders are a deeply religious people and the Judiciary Committee has heard from the ever growing voice of people of faith as they ask for your protection in this matter.  Please allow the present protections to be extended to individuals.

On behalf of the hundreds of voters who have petitioned you directly and the thousands more concerned about marriage and religious liberties, I ask that you stop House Bill 6103 in tomorrow’s vote.  Barring that, please allow the bill to be amended as described above in order to best insure the protection of marriage and the religious liberties of Rhode Islanders.

Review Letter for Floor

Subject:*

Dear (recipient name),

Dear Senator,

As the full Senate approaches its floor vote on House Bill 6103 (Civil Unions), I urge you to vote “No” on this bill.  It is a direct threat to marriage and the religious liberties of your constituents.  As has been demonstrated in hours of testimony, scores of documents, and thousands of emails and calls, HB 6103 will be a clear invitation to the Courts of Rhode Island to mandate that you and your colleagues in the Assembly legalize homosexual marriage.

It has also been clearly demonstrated in existing case law that civil union statutes across the country have been used to successfully sue business owners and professionals who run their practices by their deeply held religious beliefs.

Barring that, I urge you, in order to protect marriage and religious liberties from future litigation, to support amending HB 6103 in three ways:

3.	Finally, I urge you to extend the religious liberties exemptions presently found on page 4, lines 15 – 29, “Conscience and Religious Organizations Protected” to cover individuals as well as organizations.  Extant case law makes it clear that the legalization of civil unions is as a much a threat to the religious liberties of business owners and professionals as is homosexual-marriage.  Service providers and licensed professionals have been successfully sued or sanctioned for refusing to recognize or serve a civil union couple either in their ceremony or as a couple thereafter.  Rhode Islanders are a deeply religious people and the ever growing voice of people of faith ask for your protection in this matter.  Please allow the present protections to be extended to individuals.

Respectfully yours,

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