Though society aims to encourage and help single-parent families, “for government to say that you do not need a father, or do not need a mother, is far different.”
While it is possible for New Jersey legislature to call a ballot referendum on the issue, the Democratic leadership of the State Senate and the State Assembly will not likely propose it.
Brannigan said he believes this is because it will fail if put to a vote.
“I believe firmly that if the bill is on the ballot it will be defeated. We will maintain marriage as a union of a man and a woman.”
Brannigan explained that the New Jersey Catholic Conference has never called for a referendum issue.
“What the bishops have been saying is that government does not have the right to define marriage or to redefine marriage. Marriage, from the beginning of time, is a natural institution which flows from natural law that precedes government and precedes law,” ha said.
“If we’re saying that government can’t redefine it, why would we say that you can put it up for the vote and let the general public redefine it?”
The executive director also countered same-sex marriage advocates who say New Jersey's civil union act – which allows legal benefits for same-sex couples – is broken. He said that in five years there have been only 13 complaints related to the act. Ten of these complaints came in the act's first year.
While advocates claim that there are problems for same-sex couples at hospitals, Brannigan says the New Jersey Department of Health has not received any complaints and same-sex marriage advocates do not make charges against any specific hospitals.
“The suggestion that hospitals are discriminating … doesn’t hold water in New Jersey. The strongest argument that people are putting forward for same-sex marriage has no substance to it.”
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.