If you live in North Carolina, or perhaps anywhere in the Southeast, you have heard about the proposed marriage amendment to the state constitution that is on our ballot this May 8. You may have heard all kinds of propaganda about this amendment… about how it’s protecting marriage in the state of NC by banning “gay marriage”. I don’t want to make it a habit of using my “nursing” blog to promote political agendas, but I felt that this one was important to discuss, given it’s potential impact on healthcare in my state.
First, let me tell you a little bit about the State of NC and gay marriage:
Marriage is already defined in our state’s constitution as a legal union between one man and one woman. Passing this amendment does not mean that gay marriage will be illegal in NC. It is already illegal in the state of NC. Just as voting against this amendment is NOT a vote FOR the legalization of gay marriage in our state. If this amendment fails, NOTHING CHANGES in the state of NC.
Now, on to why voting down this amendment in May is important in regards to healthcare rights in our state.
This amendment is poorly worded, and as a result – it will have harmful, unintended, consequences. The amendment states:
Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.
Amendment one strips legal protections from children in our state. The amendment’s impact goes far beyond our state’s current law. This amendment bars the state from recognizing any LEGAL domestic union other than marriage. This puts ALL CHILDREN OF UNMARRIED FAMILIES at risk in the state of NC. As a pediatric nurse, this scares me.
Don’t ALL children in NC deserve the same protections under the law?
This amendment puts a North Carolinian Child’s health at risk.
- A child of an unmarried parent could lose their health care and prescription drug coverage.
This amendment puts a child’s HOME at risk.
- A child could be taken away from a committed parent who has loved them their entire life if something happens to the other parent.
The amendment puts a child’s FAMILY at risk.
- It threatens existing child custody and visitation rights that are designed to protect the best interest of a child.
- Amendment one could keep children from their parents at the most critical of times.
Amendment one hurts families, in general. Not just gay families, ALL families. It could hurt your family.
- Amendment One would interfere with protections for unmarried (STRAIGHT) couples to visit one another in the hospital and to make emergency medical and financial decisions if one partner is incapacitated.
- Families could lose their health insurance and prescription benefits.
- Any couple in the state of NC could have their legal protections revoked.
No matter where you stand on the issue of gay marriage, you should be AGAINST amendment one in the state of NC. Protect all families. Protect YOUR family. Keep the government out of your healthcare decisions. Vote no on May 8.
For more information on this amendment, and why you should oppose it – visit ProtectNCFamilies.org
Give me all the inside scoops as to how to roll on the floor and keep my head above water. When you are orienting, you usually start out slow and gain more and more responsibilities as time goes on. Well, on my unit times are hard right now – and we find ourselves frequently understaffed in the evenings by no fault of our own. They have hired several newbies like me to help pick up the slack eventually, but the hiring process takes awhile – not to mention the training process! As a result, my orientation has started out on the crazy side. The good news is I am the kind of girl who can roll with the punches. It’s ok with me that things don’t always go as planned. And you know what? That is kind of how nursing rolls. Even the lowest patient census can provide you a crazy night – and you just have to be able to adapt and get on with it. Get the work done. I am learning on my feet and I am ok with that. 
