PA lawmaker vows to stop same-sex marriages

A state senator is introducing a measure to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Similar bills in the last two sessions of the state Legislature have failed.

A state senator is introducing a measure to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Similar bills in the last two sessions of the State Legislature have failed.

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[audio: 090519spgaywed.mp3]

Pennsylvania banned gay marriage in 2006. But Republican State Senator John Eichelberger wants to make sure the courts don’t overturn the law.

He says with Pennsylvania’s no-fault divorce, marriage in the state has already been de-valued. Adding gay marriage, says Eichelberger, would put the children of those couples in the same boat as children of a divorce.

Eichelberger: With the divorce rates reaching new highs, we see that children that are raised in homes where we dont have a man and a woman in the home, those children are more apt to do things such as get involved in alcohol, drugs, violence, abuse, all those kinds of issues. It becomes a very serious societal ill.

But gay rights advocates say same-sex parents raise children just as well as a man and a woman. Amending the constitution requires approval from the House, Senate and voters.