A March 26th letter in Friday’s Carteret News-Times from Dr. Anne S. York made several untrue assertions about North Carolina’s Marriage Protection Amendment, which will appear on the May 8th ballot. Dr. York claims that the MPA will adversely affect NC’s economic future; label NC as an intolerant state; increase mental health disorders and medical costs; and waste state resources on domestic violence cases. None of this is true. Nor, as she also maintains, is the amendment ambiguous. The MPA is very brief, simple and straightforward: “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights or private parties pursuant to such contracts.”
Except for strengthening the existing law (NC General Statute 51-1.2), nothing really changes . Same-sex couples may still cohabitate; private businesses may still provide benefits to such couples if they so wish. Passage of the MPA — misnamed “Amendment One” by those opposed to it — will bolster the current definition of legal marriage as “one man and one woman,” ensuring that North Carolina’s children will mature in stable, balanced relationships, in families with both a father and a mother. As an amendment to the state constitution, the MPA will make it impossible for an activist judge to declare same-sex marriage unconstitutional. The current GS 51-1.2 is already under attack from a lesbian couple who have filed suit after being denied a marriage license.
Do not be misled by the myths from the ultra-liberal opposition. Do not allow the further erosion of the morals of our state.
On May 8th, vote for the Marriage Protection Amendment. To learn the truth about the MPA, visit VoteFORMarriageNC.com. To learn the truth, read your Bible.
Jere Geurin
Morehead City, NC