Raskin Proposes to End Civil Marriage

Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-20) has introduced a bill to end civil marriage. Jamie, how do your wife and kids feel about this decision?

The bill follows bravely in the path of those who proposed abolishing public schools in response to court orders mandating integrated public schools. Unlike proponents of that idea, Sen. Raskin's facetious bill is meant to promote same-sex marriage:

The bills represent an unusual new tactic in the effort to push legal rights for gay couples through the House and Senate during the legislature's 90-day session. Sponsors of the measure say they are attempting to address head-on the concerns of lawmakers who oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds.

Under their proposal, all couples -- straight or gay -- would be on equal footing with secular unions. Religious marriage in churches, synagogues and mosques would be unaffected, as would existing civil marriages.

The word "marriage" would be replaced with "valid domestic partnership" in the state's family law code.

"If people want to maintain a religious test for marriage, let's turn it into a religious institution," said Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery), the bill's Senate sponsor.