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Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act

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1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1826

2 AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1826 by replacing

3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:

4 "PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

5 Section 101. Short Title. This Act may be cited as the

6 Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act.

7 Section 102. Religious Freedom. Nothing in this Act shall

8 be construed to interfere with or regulate religious practice

9 of the many faiths in Illinois that grant the status,

10 sacrament, and blessing of marriage under wholly separate

11 religious rules, practices, or traditions of such faiths.

12 Additionally, nothing in this Act shall be construed as to

13 require any religious body, Indian Nation, Indian Tribe, Native

14 Group, or officiant thereof to solemnize or officiate a civil

15 union or to prohibit any religious body, Indian Nation, Indian

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1 Tribe, Native Group, or officiant thereof from solemnizing or

2 officiating a civil union. Any religious body, Indian Nation or

3 Tribe or Native Group or officiant thereof is free to choose

4 whether or not to solemnize and whether or not to officiate

5 civil unions.

6 Section 103. Legislative Findings. The General Assembly

7 finds that:

8 (a) Legal recognition of marriage by Illinois is the

9 primary and, in a number of instances, the exclusive source of

10 numerous protections and responsibilities under the laws of

11 Illinois for parties to a marriage and their children. These

12 protections and responsibilities that are associated with

13 marriage in Illinois are available only to opposite-sex

14 couples. Thus, same-sex couples and their children are denied

15 equal access to these protections and responsibilities.

16 (b) Many gay and lesbian residents of Illinois have formed

17 lasting, committed, caring, and faithful relationships with a

18 person of the same sex. These couples live together, serve and

19 participate together in their communities, and rear children

20 and care for family members together. Without the legal

21 protections and responsibilities currently associated only

22 with marriage, same-sex couples in Illinois suffer numerous

23 obstacles and hardships.

24 (c) Illinois has a strong interest in promoting stable and

25 lasting families, including families headed by a same-sex

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1 couple.

2 (d) There is a compelling interest and a rational basis for

3 Illinois to permit same-sex couples the same protections and

4 responsibilities afforded spouses under Illinois law.

5 (e) With this Act, Illinois builds on a long tradition of

6 respect for individual rights and responsibilities, the

7 commitments of spouses to each other and their families, and

8 equal protection of the laws. Accordingly, it is the public

9 policy of this State to continue Illinois' history as a state

10 in affording equal treatment and respect for all residents of

11 Illinois as embodied in Article I, Sections 2 and 18 of the

12 Illinois Constitution of 1970.

13 (f) It is also the public policy of this State to allow and

14 to respect the private decision of all its residents to bind

15 themselves to the obligations of and rights related to family

16 relationships that are codified in this Act and set forth

17 elsewhere under Illinois law.

18 Section 104. Definitions. For purposes of this Act:

19 "Civil union" means that 2 eligible persons have

20 established a relationship pursuant to this Act, and may

21 receive the protections and benefits of and be subject to the

22 responsibilities of partners in a civil union.

23 "Civil union certificate" means a document that certifies

24 that the persons named on the certificate have complied with

25 the laws of the State of Illinois to establish a civil union in

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1 compliance with this Act.

2 "Partner in a civil union" and "partner to a civil union"

3 mean a person who has established a civil union pursuant to

4 this Act.

5 "Partners in a civil union" and "partners joined in a civil

6 union" mean the 2 persons who have established a civil union

7 between them pursuant to this Act.

8 Section 105. Protections and Responsibilities of Persons

9 Joined in Civil Union.

10 (a) Partners joined in a civil union shall have all the

11 same protections, benefits, and responsibilities under law,

12 whether they derive from statute, administrative or court rule,

13 policy, common law or any other source of civil or criminal

14 law, as are granted to spouses in a marriage.

15 (b) Partners joined in a civil union shall be included in

16 any definition or use of the terms "spouse", "family",

17 "immediate family", "dependent", "next of kin", "husband",

18 "wife", "out of wedlock", and other terms that denote the

19 spousal relationship, as those terms are used throughout the

20 law. The term "marriage" as it is used throughout the law,

21 whether in statutes, administrative or court rule, policy,

22 common law or any other source of civil or criminal law,

23 without limitation shall be read, interpreted, and understood

24 to include marriage and civil union.

25 (c) This Act shall be liberally construed and applied to

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Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act