PRESERVATION OF MARRIAGE
JOINT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has defined the family as
“consisting in and springing from the union for life of one man and one woman in the
holy estate of matrimony; the sure foundation of all that is stable and noble in our
civilization; the best guaranty of that reverent morality which is the source of all
beneficent progress in social and political improvement,” Murphy v. Ramsey, 114 U.S. 15,
45 (1885), quoted in United States v. Bitty, 208 U.S. 393, 401 (1908); and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court described marriage as “an
institution, in the maintenance of which in its purity the public is deeply interested, for it
is the foundation of the family and of society, without which there would be neither
civilization nor progress,” Maynard v. Hill, 125 U.S. 190, 211 (1888); and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in 1977 stated that “the basic
foundation of the family in our society [is] the marriage relationship,” Smith v. Org. of
Foster Families For Equal. & Reform, 431 U.S. 816, 843 (1977); and
WHEREAS, Iowa law provided, “Only a marriage between a male and a
female is valid,” Iowa Code Ann. § 595.2 (1999) (found unconstitutional in
Varnum v. Brien, 763 N.W.2d 862 (Iowa 2009)); and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of Iowa has acknowledged the sanctity of
the marital relationship, taking note of the plethora of precedent for this view and
noting further that, “the majority in Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479
(1965)…despite the philosophical differences…their agreement was complete as to
the sanctity of the marital relationship,” State v. Pilcher, 242 N.W. 2d 348, 358
(Iowa 1976) (quoting in part Lovisi v. Slayton, 363 F.Supp. at 624); and
WHEREAS, Iowa's United States Southern District Court has opined that,
“the marriage relationship creates new legal rights and obligations for the parties,
and is a relationship in which 'the public is deeply interested, for it is the
foundation of the family and of society, without which there would be neither
civilization nor progress',” Nelson v. Minner, 604 F. Supp. 590, 593 (S.D. Iowa.
1985) (quoting the U.S. Supreme Court in Maynard v. Hill, 125 U.S. 190, 211
(1888)); and
WHEREAS, in 2013 the United States Supreme Court officially severed its
respect for marriage by declaring unconstitutional the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA) which defined marriage for federal purposes as existing between one
man and one woman, United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013),
NOW THEREFORE, the Legislature of the State of Iowa hereby submits the
following Joint Resolution to the United States Congress entitled Marriage
Preservation Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Application to the United States Congress
to call a Convention for proposing an amendment
to the United States Constitution.
Pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, the Legislature of the State of
Iowa by a joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives hereby makes
application to the United States Congress to call a Convention for proposing the following
amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Marriage Preservation Amendment to the United States Constitution
Nothing in this Constitution or in the constitution or laws of any state shall define
or shall be construed to define marriage except as the union of one man and one woman,
and no other union shall be recognized with the legal incidents thereof within the United
States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.