After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny. The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional. Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases. I fully concur with the President’s determination.
I like what Andrea Lafferty, executive director of Traditional Values Coalition, had to say in response:
"The Obama Administration has been sabotaging marriage in direct contradiction to his campaign promises. Today, President Obama takes his most unprecedented step yet, choosing to rule and reign through executive decree in what could only be called a supra-constitutional act. After massive defeats at the polls in November, a total repudiation on health care, and staring down a cost-cutting Congress, Obama is looking to secure what little base remains. Obama's actions today are an unprecedented grab for power and perhaps the most audacious in the 235 year history of the American republic.
"President Obama believes he has "concluded" that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, as passed along by Attorney General Eric Holder -- effectively asserting that Obama may rule by whim and decree.
"We are a nation of laws, not whims.
"Virtually every state in the country has overwhelmingly passed laws and state constitutional amendments protecting marriage. This unprecedented power grab demands the immediate reaction of the United States House of Representatives, who must do everything possible to fight back against what can only be described as a despotic and alarming attack on the rule of law."
Protecting DOMA is important to ensuring that individual states must decide the issue of marriage. In my opinion, the issue of marriage should be decided by the voice of the people in a given state. Living in California, and experiencing similar "power grabs" on a state scale, cause me to want to speak out! President Obama has no right to squelch the voices of every American citizen by using his executive powers in lieu of our individual right to vote on such matters.
I believe that because of the long history of traditional marriage in this country and around the world, DOMA was important to establish on a federal level.
It's easy to get caught up in the issue of marriage, and lose what the real focus here actually should be, and that is yours and my right to vote and be heard on issues that affect our lives on a state level. I can say this even though I am passionate about preserving traditional marriage. But regardless of what side of marriage one is on, we all need to resist allowing "Big Brother" to stick up for us -- and in so doing, lose the freedoms that make this country great!
tDMg
Kathryn
ACTION ALERT:
Email your congressman today! Tell them that you expect them to fully support Congressional action to intervene in the DOMA litigation to protect marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act.
Obama Borrows a California Play on Gay Marriage
A Mormon's Voice on Prop 8 Being Upheld
Validity of Prop 8 - The Argument
Continue reading at the original source →