If Americans have increased their support for gay marriage, then why does the map still look like this, with federal courts — not legislatures — being asked to change the law?
After a slew of public polling being released along-side the legal push to legalize gay marriage and trump the Tenth Amendment, support for gay marriage has taken a significant hit.
PeoplesPunditDaily.com reported in December on what was textbook blowback following national debates over abortion and gay marriage developments. Now, a new survey finds support for gay marriage following the same, yet even quicker trend observable on another social issue — abortion.
American voters continue to see marriage more as a religious institution than a civil one and though they remain closely divided on the subject of gay marriage, the number of voters favoring the union fell. According to a new Rasmussen Reports, 50 percent of likely voters view marriage as a religious institution, while just 39 percent consider it a civil institution. Overall, just 43 percent support gay marriage, down from 48 percent, while the same number is now opposed.
The danger of having the Supreme Court dictate what is socially acceptable “settled” law is underscored best by the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision to proclaim a constitutional right to abortion. Prior to the Roe vs. Wade decision, so-called nonpartisan public polling found a move toward abortion among the public, but now public opinion has firmly reversed, with the Pro-Life designation being in the majority ironically fueled by younger Americans.
Every January the fact that decision didn’t “settle” anything is on full display, when the annual “March for Life” is held on the Roe v. Wade anniversary. Last year, nearly a half of million Americans attended that rally in protest of the 55 million babies who have been terminated since 1973.
Proponents of gay marriage may not agree with such a comparison, but it is pretty self-evident. The two social issues also share another fact, which is that neither was ever about the issue per se, but rather is aimed at expanding the already-overreaching power of the federal government to dominate and dismantle the Tenth Amendment.
Nevertheless, public opinion changes considerably, if it ever did on this topic at all. If it truly is the case that Americans are increasing in their support for gay marriage, then why is the court being asked to strike down laws in all of the states shown above in the map of states with bans on gay marriage? Rather than overturning what is a clear majority position in middle America utilizing a court that can only cause social unrest, the proponents of gay marriage should instead work to change the laws through the legislatures in the individual states.
If public opinion is moving increasing in support for gay marriage, then that really shouldn’t be a problem. Or, perhaps the opinion isn’t that favorable, after all?
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on March 10-11, 2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
