Lawyers challenge Prop. 8 in federal court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two-high profile attorneys who represented George W. Bush and Al Gore during the contested 2000 election have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 8, California’s constitutional protection of traditional marriage.

The suit was filed May 22, several days before the California’s State Supreme Court, upheld the amendment by affirming its constitutionality. The case, filed by former Bush Solicitor General Ted Olson and David Boies, a former lawyer for Gore, alleges the state constitution’s ban of same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution.

Andy Pugno, general counsel for the Protect Marriage coalition that supported Proposition 8, said the new federal suit is based on “highly questionable grounds” since there is no federal right to same-sex marriage under the U.S. Constitution.

“We are treating this case seriously,” Pugno said, adding that he is filing a motion to intervene in the case, a similar step he took with the California high court.

“Without our intervention, the entire legal defense of Prop. 8 in the federal court will fall upon the California Attorney General, a troubling prospect since he has stated firmly that he believes that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional and should be invalidated,” Pugno said. “We are optimistic that the federal court will allow us to intervene and provide a legal defense for Prop 8.”

Ironically, numerous gay rights groups are unhappy with the Olson-Boies suit, saying it could jeopardize a long-held plan to win same-sex marriage rights state by state.

“We have only one shot at the U.S. Supreme Court, and any attorneys bringing a case that will affect the freedom and legal status of an entire community bear a very heavy responsibility to be certain they have fully considered the consequences,” Shannon Minter, of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and who served as lead counsel for the Prop. 8 challenge, said in an e-mail statement.

An initial hearing in the case is expected in July.

Proposition 8 is upheld

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — In a victory for California voters, the California Supreme Court has upheld Proposition 8, approved by ballot in November. The May 26 court ruling, posted just minutes ago, means that the state constitution legally restricts marriage as between only one man and one woman.

At the same time, however, the court also upheld the same-sex marriages conducted during a brief legal window from last June to Election Day. That window was opened last spring when the same court ruled that Proposition 22—a 2000 voter-approved initiative that changed state law to protect traditional marriage—was unconstitutional.

Three separate challenges to the amendment were heard during a March hearing in San Francisco. Even before the high court ruling, however, gay rights leaders said that if their legal challenge was thwarted by the justices, they would try to override the constitutional amendment at the ballot box as early as 2010.

Monitor our Web site for ongoing coverage of this story.

Searching for ways to cut the deficit? Defund Planned Parenthood

Kansas State Senator Tim Huelskamp has found a way to save money in this tenuous financial climate — defund Planned Parenthood. He stated “This year Kansas taxpayers paid out nearly $300,000 to subsidize this entity.”

The nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, recently released their annual report, this one covering the fiscal year 2007-2008.

The report reveals that taxpayer funding has increased from about $337 million to just under $350 million.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released the May 2009 budget review estimating that the federal government incurred a deficit of close to $800 billion for the first seven months of fiscal year 2009 more than four times the year-to-date gap of $153.5 billion in April 2008.

The U.S. deficit projections, which are up $89 billion from the White House's original estimates, will force the government to borrow almost half — 46 cents of every dollar it spends this year.

Among the items in the report: the number of annual abortions performed by Planned Parenthood is up over 5% to 305,310.

While Planned Parenthood’s report shows that adoption referrals are up from the previous report, they report only 4,912 referrals. In comparison to the 305,310 abortions report, that is more than 62 abortions for every one adoption referral.

Huleskamp’s amendment has passed through the Kansas House. If Governor Mark Parkinson signs the bill, Kansas will join six other states in the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

Not only does defunding Planned Parenthood help deflect budget deficits, but perhaps that money could be used for educating children or feeding families that are unemployed.