Opinion
Let Us Let Go of Restaurant

Folks Around Here Ready To Help Out

Co-op CEO Challenges Editorial

Letters To the Editor

Letters To the Editor

Editorial: Electric Co-Op Kidding Itself

Guest View: Loving Nation Means Those in It

Fire Response Shows Spirit

Discuss Drinking Before the Prom

Letters To the Editor

More
Opinion

HOME	CLASSIFIEDS	OBITUARIES	SPORTS	OPINION

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Editorial: Partnership Bill Needs Scrutiny

By

    "Fairness and justice," as one supporter said, are indeed part of the domestic partnership bill narrowly approved by the House of Representatives on Thursday.
    Now pending before the Senate, the bill would offer unmarried partners the right to obtain medical coverage through their partner's health insurance, visit a partner in a hospital, take family medical leave and make end-of-life decisions.
    Those provisions would be a great help to many same-sex couples who cannot legally be wed as well as many other New Mexicans who choose not to marry, including senior citizens and people with disabilities.
    But the legislation doesn't stop there.
    It would also give partners— whether soulmates with a lifetime commitment or a far more casual relationship— property rights to the other person's pension and estate.
    Suddenly, that $25 certificate from the county clerk would completely redefine the legal landscape for partners who might not fully understand what they had stepped into— and for family members outside the domestic partnership.
    These property rights can already be dealt with through legal documents, which are the proper tools for the job.
    The practical complications that could arise from the existing bill's property-right provisions are troublesome: Would any effort be made to inform people of the rights they were signing away when they registered as domestic partners? Would there be a statewide database of registered partnerships? Would a partnership have to be dissolved in court— presumably an expensive and difficult proposition— before its members entered new ones?
    A domestic partnership law that makes it easier for New Mexicans to take care of their loved ones makes sense. A law that attempts to duplicate all the rights of marriage— especially for couples who shy away from that heavy commitment— may be too sweeping and needs careful scrutiny.