Attorney: Gay marriage will lead to 900,000 abortions
Amicus brief says same-sex marriage will degrade the institution
“For man-woman couples, removing the procreation-focused, man-woman definition will erode the message that society prefers that procreation occur within marriage … It would also mean a higher percentage of girls who later undergo multiple abortions.”
— Gene Schaerr, a Washington-based attorney and former law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia, in an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of “100 scholars of marriage” ahead of upcoming oral arguments in several cases challenging state same-sex marriage bans.
Schaerr’s brief argues that an increase in same-sex marriage rates will degrade the institution of marriage, particularly in the eyes of heterosexual men. As a result of lower marriage rates among heterosexuals, there will be a resulting increase in the number of unmarried women. Because unmarried women are more likely to have abortions than married women, there will be more abortions. Specifically, Schaerr pins the number of abortions that could happen as same-sex marriage becomes more common at 900,000.
Schaerr, who unsuccessfully sought to defend Utah’s same-sex marriage ban, also argues that same-sex marriage will lead to more children being born and raised by unmarried women without a father. As a result, there would be increased in the percentage of children “living in poverty, experiencing psychological or emotional problems, suffering from teenage pregnancy, doing poorly in school, engaging in substance abuse, committing crimes and obtaining abortions — all with adverse impacts on society.”
Image: Life size model of fetus at 8 weeks after conception, in hand of adult. Credit: Bill Davenport (via Wikimedia Commons).
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