On November 7 the people of South Carolina will vote whether to define in the state constitution
whether marriage will continue to be an institution for one man and one woman.

The South Carolina Marriage Amendment was crafted through an intense, deliberative process both in the South Carolina Senate and House. The goal of the legislation was to insure that the clear public policy of the state defines marriage as an institution for one man and one woman while protecting the ability of individuals to draft strictly private contracts unrelated to the incidents of marriage.

The Senate passed the Amendment 42-1 with 3 abstaining and the South Carolina House passed the bill 96-3 with 25 abstentions.

Palmetto Family Council coordinated the testimony offered in the SC Senate on this bill, H.3133. That testimony from Attorney Byron Babione, Pastor Toney Parks, SC Baptist Public Policy Director Joe Mack and PFC President Dr. Oran P. Smith can be found here.

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a law firm that studies Marriage Amendments rated South Carolina’s Amendment “the strongest in the country” at the time of its passage.

The actual wording of the Amendment, which passed the legislature as H.3133, is as follows:

"Must Article XVII of the Constitution of this State be amended by adding Section 15 so as to provide that in this State and its political subdivisions, a marriage between one man and one woman is the only lawful domestic union that shall be valid or recognized; that this State and its political subdivisions shall not create, recognize, or give effect to a legal status, right, or claim created by another jurisdiction respecting any other domestic union, however denominated; that this amendment shall not impair any right or benefit extended by the State or its political subdivisions other than a right or benefit arising from a domestic union that is not valid or recognized in this State; and that this amendment shall not prohibit or limit the ability of parties other than the State or its political subdivisions from entering into contracts or other legal instruments?

Those voting in favor of the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word 'Yes', and those voting against the question shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word 'No'."

If you support the Amendment, we invite you to sign our Pledge, credo for marriage in South Carolina.

The South Carolina Marriage Amendment Campaign is a statewide effort to pass Amendment 1 on the November, 2006 General Election ballot. The Amendment defines marriage as an institution for one man and one woman.