5 Ways I Will Fight for Marriage as President

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) was the keynote speaker at the 2nd Annual National Organization for Marriage gala in Washington, D.C. Senator Santorum outlined his response to the recent Supreme Court ruling redefining the institution of marriage and what his Administration will do to strengthen the traditional American family, which will include:

• The Court got it wrong and we must fight: The Court has a track-record of being wrong, and this case is no different. Just as Roe v. Wade launched decades of legal battles, so has this decision. The battle is not over.
• Fight to reclaim marriage as an institution: We must fight to rebuild marriage, so that each year in America more children know the love of their married mom and dad. This is a struggle that begins in our own homes, our own families, our own communities, our own faith communities: to make our families an outward and visible sign that love is real, it is possible, and a child’s heart can rely on their parents’ marriage. This is about lifting up hope, about keeping the faith, and about making the idea of marriage a real possibility, part of the American dream, and not surrendering it. The family is too important to our society and our economy to give up on.
• Fight to protect religious freedom: We are in the middle of a powerful effort by the Left to pivot from redefining marriage to redefining Christianity–and other traditional faiths–as the moral, cultural, and legal equivalent of racism. We cannot just stand by and let that happen. We cannot afford to nominate a candidate who says “let’s move on,” or “let’s talk about something else,” or worse denies the reality we see all along by saying there is no clash between the liberty of believers and the Left’s vision of what redefining marriage means for religion.
• Fight to protect freedom of conscience: Rev. Rick Warren said, “Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.” Justice Kennedy’s decision has perpetuated these two ugly lies and people of faith will now be classified under the ugliest of terms. This cannot stand.
• Steps a Santorum Administration will take: As a candidate, Senator Santorum was proud to sign and fully support the National Organization for Marriage’s presidential pledge. On day one the Santorum administration will issue an executive order to implement elements of the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) to ensure no agency of the federal government will interfere with the religious liberty rights of faith-based organizations who oppose same-sex marriage. In the first 100 days, President Santorum work to pass FADA to protect the 501(c)3 status of Christian schools and charities and to protect people from losing equal access to government benefits because they disagree with Justice Kennedy’s decision. Most importantly, President Santorum will use the office of the president to begin a national discussion on reclaiming marriage – so that all children can be assured of their birthright of having the love and support of both a mother and a father in a stable healthy home.