Leaders in Alabama debate elimination of marriage licenses
Issues@Hand
AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs
June 2018 – After the state federal court struck down Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriages in 2015, several probate judges simply stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether.
Stating that probate judges may (not shall) issue marriage licenses, current law’s nuanced semantics provide probate judges a way to legally avoid signing and endorsing licenses for same-sex marriages that contradict their religious beliefs.
Now, some Alabama lawmakers are advocating passage of a bill to eliminate marriage licenses completely, requiring instead a form be submitted to affirm legal requirements for marriage.
Republican senator Phil Williams opposes such a bill. “When you take marriage and reduce it to a mere contract,” he said, “it’s almost like you’re doing nothing more than recording the deed to your property at the courthouse.”
