Des Moines, Iowa, Apr 26, 2009 / 02:03 am
As the Iowa Attorney General insists that county recorders must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, two groups have offered free legal defense to state county recorder offices that adopt a policy protecting employees’ rights of conscience.
The Iowa Supreme Court ruling mandating same-sex “marriage” takes effect on Monday. The proposed policy would protect an employee from being forced to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples if doing so would violate the employee’s convictions.
In a Tuesday statement Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said county recorders are required to comply with the Iowa Constitution “as interpreted unanimously by the Iowa Supreme Court” and must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples “in the same manner as licenses issued to opposite-gender applicants.”
“Our country lives by and thrives by the rule of law, and the rule of law means we all follow the law as interpreted by our courts -- not by ourselves. We don’t each get to decide what the law is; that would lead to chaos,” he said.