Texas Attorney General: Same-Sex Marriage Bans Reduce Out-Of-Wedlock Births

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed a brief with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which asserts the state's ban on same-sex marriage should remain in place because it reduces out-of-wedlock births.

"Texas's marriage laws are rationally related to the State's interest in reducing unplanned out-of-wedlock births. By channeling procreative heterosexual intercourse into marriage, Texas's marriage laws reduce unplanned out-of-wedlock births and the costs that those births impose on society," the brief read. "Recognizing same-sex marriage does not advance this interest because same-sex unions do not result in pregnancy. At the very least, one could rationally believe that opposite-sex marriages will do more to advance the State's interest in reducing unplanned out-of-wedlock births than same-sex marriages will."

The brief went on to state:

"Same-sex marriage may very well produce other societal benefits - such as increasing household wealth or providing a stable environment for children raised by same-sex couples - but that does not establish that Texas's marriage laws lack a rational relation to the State's interests in reducing unplanned out-of-wedlock births and encouraging the creation of new offspring."

The 5th Circuit recently agreed to expedite oral arguments in the case challenging Texas's ban on same-sex marriage.

You can read the brief below:

Texas Gay Marriage Reply Brief by laurenmcgaughy