HB 1727 and SB 5688 are the House and Senate versions of current legislation under study in Olympia under the title of “Expanding the rights and responsibilities of state registered domestic partners.”

These bills, if passed, change the language of previous bills passed such that the state will be required to treat domestic partners the same as married couples in all respects. It also adds some benefits such as right of survivor for insurance and retirement plans, but the main impetus for the legislation is more of the former rather than the latter.

All of this will result in our current DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) ending back into the courts as was similar in California, previous to the passage of Proposition 8, when their State Supreme Court declared their current law regarding marriage as between one man and one woman unconstitutional.

Many of our legislators’ motivation is the redefining of marriage. The terms husband and wife will become obsolete. The bedrock of our society for thousands of years has always been the strength of the family unit. Regardless that some couples either choose to not have children or cannot have children, the fact remains that only a man and a woman united in marriage (should) bear children.

Studies have been done that show that a child does best when raised by a mother and a father. We tend to either forget or deny that a mother has certain gifts and abilities that a father can’t provide, and a father has certain gifts and abilities that a mother can’t provide.

These gifts and abilities, although different, nonetheless complement each other to provide what is best for the child. This is all in accordance to natural law and the way we were created. Two men in a relationship cannot provide what is needed for the greatest benefit of a child, and likewise, two women cannot as well.

Societies have always benefitted the most where traditional marriage has been valued and upheld. In previous societies where same-sex partners have existed for some time, decreasing populations have generally resulted as the birth rate has not kept pace with the death rate.

This is true now in Europe, where the average family has only 1.2 children. In America, the average family has 2.3 children, which would result in population stasis except for the fact of people immigrating here.

I believe that if a ballot measure were brought to the voters of this state, that the consensus would be to favor marriage as between one man and one woman, as was similar to California in the last election. I believe our policy makers down in Olympia need to consider the will of the people in this state and the long-term implications of these bills.

R. Amundson, Federal Way