President Bush
said the ''sacred institution'' of marriage between a man
and a woman must be defended against what he called activist
court rulings. Bush briefly brought up the topic,
unprompted, while raising money in Des Moines for a
Republican congressional candidate, a day after the
New Jersey supreme court decided that same-sex couples must
be given the same rights as married heterosexual couples.
The court left it up to the state's legislature
to decide whether to extend those rights under the
name of marriage, civil unions, or something else.
The president said the New Jersey ruling
''raises doubts about the institution of marriage....
I believe marriage is a union between a man and a
woman. I believe it's a sacred institution that is critical
to the health of our society and the well-being of
families, and it must be defended.''
Bush did not say how it must be defended. But he
has advocated amending the U.S. Constitution
to ban same-sex marriage. Earlier this year, such
an amendment failed to win the needed two-thirds
support in both the Senate and House. (AP)
