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Iowa Court Ruling Demonstrates Importance of Constitutional Amendment

April 3, 2009

Carnahan and McCaskill would leave Missouri at the mercy of activist judges

JEFFERSON CITY – This morning, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a state law prohibiting gay marriage was unconstitutional.  The ruling shatters the argument used by Democrats who opposed Missouri’s 2004 constitutional amendment preserving traditional marriage, claiming that an existing state law was enough to protect marriage between a man and a woman.  Despite the objections by Democrats such as Robin Carnahan and Claire McCaskill, Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved the constitutional amendment.

“If Robin Carnahan and Claire McCaskill had their way, Missouri would have been left in the same situation as Iowa: without a constitutional amendment and at the mercy of the courts,” said Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party.

In fact, Sen. Claire McCaskill claimed in 2004 that a state constitutional amendment was unnecessary, citing an existing state law that prohibited gay marriage and arguing that a judge would never overturn it.  McCaskill: “We had a very strong law on the books concerning gay marriage… And I just didn’t think it was an appropriate thing to put into our Constitution… And there was no danger of this being overturned by a judge in this state.” ( Springfield Debate, October 22, 2004)

Similarly, Robin Carnahan believed that a state law and her personal opinion was sufficient. Carnahan: “I support the fact that marriage is between a man and a woman. That’s all that I need to support.” (Missourinet interview, October 20, 2004)  In 2004, Carnahan was repeatedly criticized for her failure to support the amendment.

“Today’s Iowa ruling clearly demonstrates that a simple state statute is not enough to protect the institution of marriage,” said Smith.  “Traditional values are under attack from activist judges.  It is time for Robin Carnahan and Claire McCaskill to recognize that they were wrong and join Republicans in calling for a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.”