Romney explores options to block gay marriages

BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Friday that if state legislators pass an amendment banning same-sex marriage, he may ask a court to block town clerks from issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples when a ruling by the state's highest court takes effect in May.

"I would consider, after the legislature has completed its work, what legal options are available to me, if any," said the Republican governor, who repeatedly has stated his belief that marriage should be limited to a union between a man and a woman.

At a brief statehouse news conference Friday, Romney would not expand on possible legal strategies. But the governor has made no secret of his distaste for the 4-3 ruling in November by the Supreme Judicial Court that made Massachusetts the first state to legalize gay and lesbian marriage — and in the process launched a national debate.

The state's highest court gave the legislature six months to implement its decision, setting in motion a frantic effort by lawmakers to craft an alternative to marriage for gay and lesbian couples.

Even while applauding state legislators for working until nearly midnight Thursday as they tried to hammer out a constitutional amendment dealing with same-sex marriage, Romney could not resist once again blasting the court for "setting aside thousands of years of recorded history and legal precedent."

State senators and representatives gathered jointly Thursday for a session known as a constitutional convention. After 10 hours of impassioned speeches and backroom negotiations, legislators voted 121 to 77 in favor of an amendment that would limit marriage to a union between a man and a woman but establish civil unions for same-sex couples.

At a similar constitutional convention four weeks earlier, legislators gave preliminary approval to the same measure, drafted by the leadership of both parties in both houses. But under the complex rules of the Massachusetts constitution — the document on which the U.S. Constitution is based — an amendment must pass three "readings," or votes, before being finalized.

The proposed amendment then must be considered in the next legislative session. If the bill again survives three readings, it is offered to the general electorate as a ballot initiative. The earliest possible date that an amendment banning same-sex marriage could reach voters is November 2006.

The constitutional convention will reconvene March 29. But dozens of modifications could be added to the amendment by then, making the already cumbersome approval process even more difficult.