Health Benfits for Same-Sex Marriage

Health Benefits for Same-Sex Marriage

Article Published: May 6, 2010

The New York Times article, ‘Marriage Law Is Challenged as Equaling Discrimination’, brings up issues of receiving health benefits in same-sex marriages. Nancy Gill has worked for the Postal Service for the 23 years, but because she is married to a woman, she cannot receive health benefits from her employer. Gill is forced to pay twice as much for health benefits as anyone else who she is working with. She feels it unfair that she is not able to provide for her family because she is involved in a same-sex marriage, while the other men and women who are joined in opposite-sex marriages in the Postal Service are able to provide for their families.



The Defense of Marriage Act, enacted by Bill Clinton in 1996, defines marriage as being between man and a woman. Same-sex couples are challenging the section that denies same-sex couples marriage-related benefits because they claim to have been denied equal protection under the law. The case was filed in March 2009, and was argued in a Federal District Court a week ago. This is the first major challenge taken against the act, and it is likely to end up before the Supreme Court.



Mary L. Bonauto, the director of civil rights project for the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, stood up for Nancy Gill and her wife and 15 other families, calling the case a classic “equal protection issue”. Bonauto says that the act was enacted to show that same-sex marriages were immoral, but it just ended up causing same-sex families to be forced to pay twice as much for health benefits.



Advocates for gay rights have little hope that Obama will repeal the act because he has many other things on his plate right now that he is more focused on. The presidential administration disargees with DOMA, but does not think that it is unconstitutional.



This case is interpreted in court through Civil rights and Civil liberties under the 14th amendment. Civil rights are a class of rights warranted by the government that protect individuals from the unwarranted actions by government and these rights ensure an individuals ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without descrimination. Civil liberties are rights that protect an individual from the state. The 14th amendment of the Constitution states that every individual of the United States cannnot be denied equal protection of laws and every individual is entitled to due process of law. Gill does not feel like she is getting this equal protection under the 14th amendment because of her same-sex marriage. Also, she feels like she is being denied of her civil rights because she is not receiving the same health benefits as opposite-sex couples. Even though it is obvious that Gill and her wife are being denied equal protection, President Obama does not view DOMA as constitutional.



We believe that this couple should receive their benefits, but due to the DOMA, their marriage is not moral. So, the Postal company doesn’t have to recognize them as a true couple. Thus, the couple is not entitled to receive benefits from the company. The first step in same-sex civil liberties, is getting rid of DOMA, but until this happens, it technically is constitutional to refuse giving them their health benefits.





Photo Credit: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/us/07doma.html?ref=us


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Posted By: Anne Lucado and Hannah Slovacek