Academic

Outlawing Divorce

By Bridget Crawford

The story of the proposed “marriage” amendment to the Pennsylvania constitution gets even stranger, as a state senator from Philadelphia is attempting to add a provision to the bill containing the proposed constitutional amendment that would outlaw most divorces in Pennsylvania. (The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story is here.) The senator’s argument for outlawing most divorces: If the purpose of the proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is to protect “traditional” marriage, then the next logical step to protect “traditional” marriage is to curtail the availability of divorce. Naturally, there is no chance that this proposal will make it into the bill, but the senator plans on using it as a springboard for attacking the proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages (and civil unions, domestic partnerships, etc.).

-Anthony C. Infanti

Full post as published by Feminist Law Professors on May 07, 2008 (boomark / email).