Attornies' General Statement

Three candidates for Utah State Attorney General issued this joint statement in opposition to a proposed state constitutional amendment.

Joint Statement Regarding Proposed Amendment No. 3
   
   Utahns of good faith disagree over whether the state constitution should be amended to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. We respect each citizen's views on this complex issue.
   However, because proposed Amendment 3 goes far beyond simply defining marriage, and would prove unnecessarily hurtful to many Utahns and their families, we oppose the amendment.
   As written, Part Two of the proposed amendment would prohibit the Utah Legislature from ever extending even the most basic partnership rights to an unmarried couple, such as rights to hospital visitation, to emergency medical decision-making, and to inheritance. Moreover, Part Two's overly broad language could lead private employers in Utah to question the legality of their desire to extend certain benefits (such as health care) to unmarried partners of employees.
   Furthermore, proposed constitutional amendments, such as Amendment 3, ought to be given the careful scrutiny of the Utah Constitutional Revision Commission.
   For these reasons, we oppose adoption of Amendment 3.
   - Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, Greg Skordas, Andrew McCullough