The proper conclusion
By Hawaii Family Forum and Hawaii Catholic Conference
Here is the complete joint statement by the Hawaii Family Forum and Hawaii Catholic Conference in reaction to Gov. Linda Lingle’s July 6 veto of HB 444, the civil unions bill.
Hawaii Family Forum is an educational organization representing many evangelical Protestant churches. Francis Oda is the chairman of its board. Bishop Larry Silva is the chairman of the board of the Hawaii Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the Diocese of Honolulu.
The Hawaii Family Forum and the Hawaii Catholic Conference are grateful for Gov. Linda Lingle’s veto of HB 444. Her decision came after a thoughtful and balanced study of the bill and its consequences and we are convinced she has come to the proper and only conclusion that will best serve the people of Hawaii.
Her veto affirms the will of Hawaii citizens. In 1998, seventy percent of Hawaii voters ratified a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man or one woman. A 2009 survey by SMS Research found that 66 percent agreed with that vote more than a decade later.
Numerous legal flaws had made HB 444 untenable. Its effective date was oddly retroactive. The bill did not address how civil unions would be dissolved and assets divided. Also unanswered was the status of children born to a civil union and what happens to them when a civil union is terminated. The Senate amended the bill to allow heterosexual couples to procure civil unions — a significant change made without public debate or expert input.
The Hawaii Family Forum and Hawaii Catholic Conference will ask the legislature next year to consider changes and additions to Hawaii’s reciprocal beneficiary statute to provide for any needs, privileges and protections the proponents of HB 444 were seeking.
Hawaii Family Forum and the Hawaii Catholic Conference thank the thousands of people who took action to express their beliefs and stood strong in support of traditional family values and the definition of marriage as being limited to one man and one woman.