ed the likelihood of a vote on that matter in the lower chamber.
An amendment to the US Constitution requires a two thirds vote of approval by the US House and Senate and ratification by three quarters of the states for passage.
EFFECTS OF PUBLIC POLICIES ON SAME-GENDER COUPLES AND THEIR CHILDREN
Legal and Financial Effects
Civil marriage is a legal status through which societal recognition and support are given to couples and families. It provides a context for legal, financial, and psychosocial well-being, an endorsement of interdependent care, and a form of public acknowledgment and respect for personal bonds. Opponents of same-gender civil marriage often suggest that the legal recognition afforded by civil marriage for same-gender couples is unnecessary, noting that all of the rights and protections that are needed can be obtained by drawing up legal agreements with an attorney. In reality, same-gender partners can secure only a small number of very basic agreements, such as power of attorney, naming the survivor in one's will (at the risk of paying an inheritance tax, which does not apply to heterosexual married couples), and protecting assets in a trust. Even these agreements, however, represent only the “best guesses” of the legal community and may not withstand challenges from extended family members of the couple. Such challenges are not rare given the lack of societal understanding and acceptance of homosexuality and same-gender partnerships. Moreover, legal agreements cannot win for the couple and their children access to the rights, benefits, and protections afforded by the federal and state governments to heterosexual married couples.
As noted earlier, the Government Accountability Office has identified a total of 1138 federal statutory provisions classified to the US Code in which marital status is a factor in determining or receiving rights, benefits, and protections.7 In addition, there are numerous state-based programs, benefits, rights, and protections that are based on marital status.
For same-gender couples and their children, enactment of marriage amendments halts the possibility of obtaining many legal and financial rights, benefits, and protections such as:
legal recognition of the couple's commitment to and responsibility for one another;
legal recognition of joint parenting rights when a child is born or adopted;
legal recognition of a child's relationship to both parents;
joint or coparent adoption (in most states);
second-parent adoption (in most states);
foster parenting (in some states);
eligibility for public housing and housing subsidies;
ability to own a home as “tenants by the entirety” (ie, a special kind of property ownership for married couples through which both spouses have the right to enjoy the entire property, and when one spouse dies, the surviving spouse gets title to the property [in some states]);
protection of marital home from creditors (in some states);
automatic financial decision-making authority on behalf of one's partner;
access to employer-based health insurance and other benefits for nonbiological/not-jointly-adopted children (considered a taxable benefit for same-gender couples by the Internal Revenue Service, which is not the case for married heterosexual couples);
access to spouse benefits under Medicare and certain Medicaid benefits (spouses are considered essential to individuals receiving Medicaid benefits and, therefore, are eligible for medical assistance themselves; family coverage programs would deny coverage to same-gender partners and nonbiological/not-jointly-adopted children);
ability to enroll nonbiological/not-jointly-adopted children in public and medical assistance programs;
ability of both parents to consent to medical care or authorize emergency medical treatment for nonbiological/not-jointly-adopted children;
ability to make medical decisions for an incapacitated or ailing partner;
recognition as next of kin for the purpose of visiting partner or nonbiological/not-jointly-adopted child in hospitals or other facilities;
ability to take advantage of