Referendum to protect marriage goes ahead in Romania

Published: July 22nd, 2016

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- Family
- Social
- Same-Sex 'Marriage'

Romania's top Court has paved the way for a referendum on defining marriage in the constitution as a union between one man and one woman.

The Romanian Constitutional Court approved the citizens initiative aiming to clarify the constitutional definition of family in order to prevent arbitrary and counter-natural re-definitions.

The nine judges sitting on the Constitutional Court ruled unanimously, on Wednesday, that the proposal to refine the definition of marriage in the constitution was well-founded.

3 million sign support petition

The constitution currently states that: "The family is founded on the freely consented marriage of the spouses, their full equality, as well as the right and duty of the parents to ensure the upbringing, education and instruction of their children".

The Coalition for the Family (Coalitia pentru Familie), a civic initiative is hoping to replace the word "spouses" with "one man and one woman".

The Coalition for the Family, which comprises 34 local NGOs and associations, collected three million signatures in a few weeks from a total population of 20 million in support of the initiative.

Next stages

Under Romanian law, the constitution can be changed after a proposal by the president, the government, a quarter of parliamentary members or a minimum of 500,000 signatures from signatures is deemed valid by the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR).

The proposal then needs to find the support of two thirds of the members in both parliamentary chambers, after which a nationwide referendum is held.

Pressure

It is anticipated that while few politicians support same-sex 'marriage' they will be inundated with pressure from overseas, including EU funded institutions.

In May, twenty-eight human rights groups, including Amnesty International, had previously urged the court to reject the proposal.

Another of those twenty-eight groups is the Accept Assoication whose vice president Romanita Iordache said: "Through our intervention, we ask the Constitutional Court to give a negative opinion to the initiative, thus ending a pointless and manipulative exercise that generates hate in the entire society."

Speaking after the CCR hearing Court president Valer Dorneanu refused to give a negative opinion on the proceedings stating that they rule not on a substance of a proposal but on whether it meets legal requirements.

Rebuffing claims that the initiative is suppressive to human rights he added: "The concept of family life is not violated either, because it is much broader than the scope of marriage, it includes relationships with children, relatives, it defines their obligations and kinship relations."

Pray

Please pray that Romanian parliamentarians will resist international pressure to not protect marriage and family in their constitution.

Initiative to protect marriage

In April, a petition was launched to defend true marriage and family across Europe. The European Citizens' Initiative Mums, Dads and Kids aims to protect the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.

Citizens from across EU member states are invited to add their signature supporting a definition of marriage and family that aims to promote a Biblical pattern of family life.