Pennsylvania’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is facing a constitutional challenge in Federal Court in Philadelphia. Attorneys for a lesbian woman who was “married” to her partner in Canada have petitioned the court to declare Pennsylvania’s marriage law to be unconstitutional. (COZEN

A group of scholars recently released a study called “Why Marriage Matters: Thirty Conclusions from the Social Sciences.” The study found that while divorce rates have decreased, instability in families has greatly increased. Here are the conclusions of the study:

Leaders of some of the largest religious communities in the United States have come together to express their commitment toward the protection of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. In an open letter released today, entitled “The Protection of Marriage: A Shared Commitment

Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, decried the August 4 decision of a federal judge to overturn California voters’ 2008 initiative that protected marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider the Pennsylvania Marriage Protection Amendment on Tuesday, March 16, 2010. Introduced as SB 707, the bill proposes an amendment to the state constitution: Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid and recognized as a m

During a recent meeting in San Antonio, TX, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops received an update from its Ad Hoc Committee on Defense of Marriage from its chairman, Loiusville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz (formerly of the Diocese of Allentown).

On Wednesday, May 6, 2009, Gov. John Baldacci of Maine signed a bill into law legalizing same-sex marriage in that state.  It becomes the fifth state to allow gay marriage joining Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Iowa.

Two significant actions affecting marriage took place today – the state legislature in Vermont passed legislation legalizing gay marriage in that state, overriding the governor’s veto. It becomes the first state to implement gay marriage directly through legislative action

In a unanimous decision, the Iowa Supreme Court today held that Iowa’s defense of marriage statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the Iowa Constitution. The decision effectively legalizes gay marriage in that state.

“It won’t happen here.” Opponents of a marriage protection amendment and those just reluctant to take up the controversial issue have echoed this phrase throughout the debate in Pennsylvania. They say the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which became a Pennsylvania