ORLANDO, Fla. – The leaked draft of a Supreme Court ruling is not only causing concern for abortion-rights advocates but also other groups – including the LGBTQ community – over possible implications for same-sex marriage.
President Biden raised that concern during his initial reaction to the draft ruling.
"So does this mean that in Florida they can decide they're going to pass a law saying that same-sex marriage is not permissible, it’s against the law in Florida? So it’s a fundamental shift in American jurisprudence,” said President Biden.
Michael Ferrin, an Orlando attorney with Anderson & Ferrin who specializes in family law and has clients who are in same-sex marriages, looked carefully through the draft released by POLITICO. His legal assessment is that while the draft ruling compares abortion rights to matters such as intimate sexual relations, contraception and marriage, it also says abortion is different from those other matters because it involves the life of a fetus.
“And I think that should shed some light on what the court is intending to hopefully do in the future, and it should hopefully rest any concerns anybody would have about their same-sex marriage being undone,” said Ferrin.
Ferrin also pointed out that even if the Supreme Court eventually ruled to reverse the ruling that made same-sex marriage legal, it would have to be retroactive – something he says is highly unlikely – to undo existing marriages.
The draft ruling is not a final ruling, so it’s unclear at this point if abortion or same-sex marriages will be affected.