by Patrick J. Buchanan – January 15, 2002

While Americans remain focused on the war on terror and the doings at Enron, a decisive battle in the culture war will be fought out this month in the California State Assembly.

At issue is Assembly Bill 1338, which would extend all the benefits of marriage to the pairings of homosexuals, known as “civil unions.” To Ken Connor of Family Research Council, AB 1338 “is the most serious threat to marriage since the states foolishly embraced no-fault divorce in the 1960s.” That is no understatement. For here is how the bill’s crucial section reads: “Any statute or provision of California law that applies to marriage, marital status or a marital relationship shall apply in the same respect to civil unions.”