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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories 10 things to know for Friday Emergency services Living with wildlife Erickson finds room to work at Medford airport 10 things to know for Thursday Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency services Medford robbery suspect arrested after pursuit in Bend Dispose of documents and prescription drugs safely on Saturday Emergency services Teenager struck, killed by pickup Politics and Elections Arthur I. Cyr: Cuba’s enduring challenge to American foreign policy – and American politics Gov. Brown touts need for transportation funding in talk to Medford chamber Kent Bush: Clinton 2.0 is neither new nor improved Arthur I. 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Dameron Marie Melvina Besette-Hull James Emmett Boozer Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Shareable Sports Latest Stories Fredenburg grand slam powers Chieftains Warriors storm back, top Pels SOU's Neal fifth, Reitman seventh in CC multis Giants sweep Dodgers on Maxwell hit Weekley, de Jonge share lead in Zurich Classic Varsity 541 College Sports SOU's Neal fifth, Reitman seventh in CC multis Aspiring Duck quarterback bucks the odds Marshall stays with Ducks to get better Eckert, Beavers take series from Arizona Randall drives SOU into postseason Pro Sports Warriors storm back, top Pels Giants sweep Dodgers on Maxwell hit Weekley, de Jonge share lead in Zurich Classic Griner, fiancee Johnson arrested after fight Title Quest Community Sports Bailey picks up modified win Wilson delivers in return of local boxing Palmer breezes to second straight men’s title Business Latest Stories Blog: Weekend Impossible Business briefs Ride & Drive: 2015 Nissan Frontier Erickson finds room to work at Medford airport New home in an old house Real Estate News New home in an old house Naumes plans custom-crush winery in former packing house GREEN ACRES: Southern Oregon provides escape from the maddening crowd Since You Asked: Metro Medford rebranding proved economical Jackson County median home price hits $215,000 in first quarter People In Business Transportation Erickson finds room to work at Medford airport Lithia Motors nets $40.7 million in first quarter Lithia Motors reports second-best quarter ever Business briefs Medford airport's record run continues Agriculture Naumes plans custom-crush winery in former packing house New bosses take charge at Harry & David Dancin Vineyards covers up Opinion Latest Matthew T. Mangino: Faulty hair analysis has far-reaching implications Granlund cartoon: Paging Dr. Oz Our View: Buildings belong with the Jackson County Library District Letters to the Editor, April 24 Michael Gerson: 'The Road to Character' starts with humility Editorials Our View: Buildings belong with the Jackson County Library District Our View: Public's right to film police should be protected Our View: Raises for Jackson County officials — again Other Views: Delay edible marijuana products for safety Our View: The rule of law vs. armed confrontation Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, April 24 Letters to the Editor, April 23 Letters to the Editor, April 22 Letters to the Editor, April 21 Letters to the Editor, April 20 Columns Michael Gerson: 'The Road to Character' starts with humility Dana Milbank: The right's new claim: same-sex marriage is deadly Kathleen Parker: Mr. Hughes goes to Washington Esther Cepeda: What happens in Latin America should be reported Kathleen Parker: Presidential election 2016: The woman trap Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: This Earth Day, we celebrate the Northwest Forest Plan The Medford School Board was wrong: 'American Pageant' is a political agenda, not history The Medford School Board was right: 'American Pageant' is a fine book, and the board did its homework Guest Opinion: Removing barriers to walking, biking benefits everyone Guest Opinion: Conversion therapy on LGBT youth is child abuse Lifestyle Latest stories Community blog: 'Good' sushi may be more rare than real wasabi Anniversary: Bobbie and Don Mills celebrate 60 years together Anniversary: Wayne and Shirley Tinnin celebrate 50 years together Community blog: Jackson County Votes to Pay Wildlife Services: the War on Wildlife continues ENGAGEMENT: Sellers-James Food Community blog: 'Good' sushi may be more rare than real wasabi Community blog: Oregon Breweries to grow or seriously to grow? The joy of true wasabi Season Stepp: Veggie treat hidden deep inside artichokes Tammy Kelly: The South’s favorite side dish — slaw Home and Garden Costa Living: Basking in flower power Garden Cameos: Spring is time for azaleas in the garden Dear Monty: Seven costly mistakes of new real estate investors Paul Rogers: Enjoy convenience of container gardening Home Help: 3 quick, easy kitchen and bath upgrades Health Health Watch: Tips for protecting your eyes Dr. Jeff Hersh: Could severe cramping mean endometriosis? Dr. Murray Feingold: Is pre-op testing for cataract surgery necessary? Community blog: What about Lucy? Brent St. Germain: One year and counting Hiking Biking Faith Religion Briefs: Friday, April 24 Religion Briefs: Friday, April 17 Religion briefs: Friday, April 10 Religion briefs: Friday, April 3 Religion briefs: Friday, March 27 Milestones and Achievements ENGAGEMENT: Sellers-James Witham's birthday bash draws hundreds for 1950s prices Charlesworth-Murphy Drizzle doesn't dampen Pear Blossom Parade spirit New Arrivals: Sunday, April 12 Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories A Taste of Ashland pairs food and wine at galleries Rogue Valley Earth Day 2015 Regional brewers, distillers, winemakers at Harry & David Field Moment in Time presents 'Viejo con Nuevo' Britt adds Watkins Family Hour concert with Sean and Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, Fiona Apple and others Theater 'Secret Love' playwright Stan Lai appears in Ashland REVIEW: 'Secret Love' strikes comical, poignant balance Ashland New Plays Festival chooses new artistic director A tale of two plays at OSF Oregon Cabaret Theatre's "The Musical!" delivers five clever Broadway parodies in Ashland Music Maria Muldaur at the Unitarian Fellowship Genticorum at Paschal Winery Southern Oregon Repertory Singers Live Music in Local Clubs The Farr Side: Slow disappearance of physical music Community Events A Taste of Ashland pairs food and wine at galleries Rogue Valley Earth Day 2015 Foreign language film festival set at SOU Regional brewers, distillers, winemakers at Harry & David Field Third Fridays celebrates poetry, student art Movies Reader Review: 'Danny Collins' a sentimental and funny tribute to John Lennon Reader Review: 'Birdman' for the birds Movie review: ‘Ex Machina’ is the droid you’re looking for Movie review: Fairly smooth sailing for ‘The Water Diviner’ Movie review: ‘Age of Adaline’ is sweet but a little sloppy Dining Island Grindz serves up Hawaiian specialties Have you wandered down the Bear Creek Wine Trail yet? 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ANOTHER VIEW Dana Milbank: The right's new claim: same-sex marriage is deadly MailTribune.com Writer Posted Apr. 23, 2015 @ 12:01 am Posted Apr. 23, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> As the Supreme Court prepares to take up same-sex marriage next week, conservative scholars have produced a last-ditch argument to keep the scourge of homosexual unions from spreading across the land: Gay marriage kills. They're saying that legalizing same-sex marriage will cause 900,000 abortions. The logic is about as obvious as if they had alleged that raising the minimum wage would increase the frequency of hurricanes. If anything, you'd think that more same-sex marriages would mean more adoptions. But comes now Gene Schaerr, unsuccessful lawyer for Utah in that state's case against same-sex marriages, to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of "100 scholars of marriage." "On the surface, abortion and same-sex marriage may seem unrelated," Schaerr acknowledged in a post on the Heritage Foundation website in advance of a presentation he made to the conservative think tank Monday. But "the two are closely linked in a short and simple causal chain." To wit: Legalizing same-sex marriage devalues marriage and causes fewer heterosexual couples to marry, which leads to a larger number of unmarried women, who have abortions at higher rates than married women. As a result, Schaerr wrote, "nearly 900,000 more children of the next generation would be aborted as a result of their mothers never marrying." Case closed! Or at least it would be, if Schaerr's "causal chain" were real. He freely acknowledged that he had no cause-and-effect proof when I asked him about it at Heritage on Monday. "It is still too new to do a rigorous causation analysis using statistical methods," he admitted, saying that he had found a decline in marriage rates only in states that had legalized same-sex marriage (in fact, marriage rates have declined overall). "The brief doesn't even attempt to say conclusively that this reduction in marriage rates has been the result of adopting same-sex marriage," Schaerr said, though there are "theoretical reasons" such causation might occur. Or perhaps theological reasons. When Schaerr quit his law firm last year to take the Utah case, he wrote to colleagues that he was going to "fulfill what I have come to see as a religious and family duty." A colleague leaked his resignation letter to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights group. Utah argued that legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to lower birth rates, pointing out that some of the states with the lowest birth rates, such as Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut, had same-sex marriage, and some of the highest birth-rate states, such as Texas and Utah, did not. But the national birth rate has been declining for years, from 14.3 per 1,000 people in 2006 to 12.4 in 2013. Texas and Utah actually had larger drops than Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut. Utah lost its case, but Schaerr — a former clerk to Antonin Scalia — is now making a similar argument, claiming to show drops in marriage rates in the years after states adopted same-sex marriage. Heritage's Ryan Anderson, appearing with Schaerr, went even further than Schaerr's conclusions in alleging that "every nation and every state that have redefined marriage have seen their marriage rates decline by at least 5 percent after that redefinition, even as the marriage rates in the rest of the states remain stable." Oh? The national marriage rate declined to 6.8 per 1,000 in 2012, from 8 in 2002, before Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage. The Massachusetts rate dropped from 5.9 in 2002 to 5.5 in 2011, while Connecticut went from 5.7 to 5.5 and Vermont went from 9.8 to 8.3. But Texas and Utah, free of same-sex marriage, dropped from 8.4 to 7.1, and from 10.4 to 8.6, respectively. Though the numbers are dubious, Schaerr's argument has the useful purpose of switching the debate away from same-sex marriage — on which public opinion is shifting decidedly against conservatives — and toward abortion, where positions are hardened. Schaerr had other arguments, too. He asserted that Abraham Lincoln would find it "preposterous" that the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing equal protection, would be used to justify same-sex marriage. What Lincoln would think in 2015 is unknowable — but such considerations did not deter Schaerr. He also speculated that an unemployed man who got his girlfriend pregnant in a state that had legalized same-sex marriage would be more likely to conclude that "I'm not going to assume these obligations to this woman and this child." From that idle speculation, all it takes is a slippery slope and an active imagination to get to 900,000 abortions. Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Apr. 23, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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