Indiana Lawmakers to Consider Marriage AmendmentThe Democratic majority in the Indiana House of Representatives has announced it will bring forward SJR 07 -- a proposed constitutional amendment to protect marriage from redefinition. If the measure passes, voters will see the amendment on the 2008 ballot, the Indiana Daily Student reported.
Incoming Speaker of the House Patrick Bauer, a Democrat from South Bend, said his intention of bringing the bill to the floor is to see its defeat, but the amendment earned overwhelming approval from both chambers in 2005.
Rep. Peggy Welch, another Democrat, voted for the joint resolution in 2005 and plans to vote for it in 2007.
"I anticipate it will pass the same way it passed in the 2005 (session)," she said.
John Schorg, director of media relations for the Indiana House Democrats, said Welch isn't alone.
"During the last (hearing), the vote was fairly substantive in favor of it," he said. "That's indicative of the general mood of the body."
The resolution defines marriage as only between a man and a woman and specifies that no other law can "be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups."
