Snorri1234 wrote:I don't remember anything about the constitution being against gay marriage and abortion.
As far as the abortion question is concerned, our Declaration of Independence from England spelled out that there are 3 basic rights which come from natural rights. The first one of these is
the right to life. Individual states were the ones that prohibited abortions under their reserved powers stated in the 10th amendment. They claimed to restrict abortions in order to promote the "general welfare" of their states. Roe vs. Wade was the court case which said that a Texas state law prohibiting abortions was unconstitutional. They based this decision on the 14th amendment, claiming that an individual's "right to privacy" was superior to a state's "reserved right" to restrict it.
People like myself would argue that the baby being aborted is a person. Therefore, that person being aborted is having its rights violated. People love to say "it's my choice to do this or it's my choice to do whatever I want with my own body", but if their choice means violating the rights of another human being, then I believe that's where they have to be stopped. Everyone has rights as long as they don't infringe on another person's rights. It all boils down to whether you believe that the baby is a person or not.
When you get into the whole gay marriage issue...once again, I think you're getting into overturning the original laws defined by the states. I'll find you the quote from the judge who overturned our DOMA law which passed here in California and defined marriage as between one man and one woman. I can't remember it verbatim, but I'm sure he also said that restricting gay marriage is unconstitutional because it denies an individual the "right to choose" who they will marry. I'll look up my old notes on that and give you the quote.
Homosexual couples can already receive benefits through civil unions here. So why are they so adamant about obtaining that term "marriage"? I think it's because they want approval and endorsement from the government. The legal justification for overturning existing law is once again..."it's my choice to do what I want with my body".