COLUMBUS, Ohio—The Ohio Supreme Court today ruled that it will not prevent the state’s proposed Marriage Protection Amendment from being placed on the November 2 ballot. The decision confirms that voters will be able to decide the matter when they go to the polls.
"This is a great victory for marriage and democracy," said Benjamin Bull, chief counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund. "And it is a great loss for advocates of same-sex ‘marriage’ that want to remove this decision from the people."
The court made its decision after opponents of the amendment filed an eleventh-hour lawsuit in an attempt to stop the vote from taking place. The proposed amendment recognizes marriage as between a man and a woman only.
"The attack on this amendment was nothing less than an attempt to stop the people of Ohio from being heard," said David Langdon, an ADF-allied attorney with the Law and Liberty Institute who has been defending the validity of the petitions filed in support of the amendment. "Their desperation to evade democracy did not succeed."
An Ohio appeals court rejected a request September 20 to have the petitions thrown out. Amendment opponents later filed an original action with the Ohio Supreme Court, but the court today rejected their arguments for stopping the vote. Attempts to stop votes on similar amendments have recently failed in Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan, and Oklahoma.
"The people will decide this matter, not a judge," Langdon said. "Opponents of this amendment think they know what’s best for the people of Ohio, but the people will have the final say on how marriage will be recognized in their state."
Ohio’s proposed amendment reads, "Only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this state and its political subdivisions. This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."
Besides Ohio, ADF is or has been involved directly or indirectly with legal actions defending marriage in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington state.
ADF is America’s largest legal alliance defending religious liberty through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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Related Information
Read the opinion here.