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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Dan Frankel |
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Frankel blasts proposed civil-unions ban and Senate's after-the-fact hearing
PITTSBURGH, April 10 – State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, chairman of the Allegheny County Democratic Delegation in the House, issued this statement about today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on S.B. 1250, a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and civil unions:
"Holding a hearing after you've already rushed a bill out of committee is something out of Alice in Wonderland – vote first, hearing afterward.
"Same-sex civil marriage is already illegal in Pennsylvania – it has been for 12 years, and that law hasn't been challenged in court once. In addition, the proposed amendment would go much further than existing law by banning civil unions, which enjoyed 65 percent support in a recent Pennsylvania poll.
"The amendment would endanger even basic legal protections for unmarried couples, both opposite-sex and same-sex couples, including many seniors who don't marry because they would lose Social Security, pension or health benefits.
"Gambling with people's basic legal protections is wrong, and this amendment would put wills and health-care directives at risk for no good reason, other than someone wanting an election-year issue."
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