New Tea Party Governor Will Make One Of His First Acts Changing KY Marriage Form To Help Kim Davis
Matt Bevin says he will issue an executive order to mandate changing forms, which might contradict state law.
Since January, Kim Davis says she has been actively lobbying the state legislature to change the state law that mandates county clerks names appear on marriage forms. Davis claims that her name or signature appearing on a marriage license means each marriage has been approved by her, and feels that is a violation of her First Amendment religious freedom.
Of course, clerks at state motor vehicle departments have never said issuing a drivers’ license means they approve of a particular driver’s driving, same idea with fishing licenses, but this is the claim Davis is making.
Tea Party Republican Matt Bevin on Tuesday won his race for governor, in a surprise and stunning upset. Bevin is only the second Republican to win the Kentucky governor’s mansion in four decades. Many believe his support of Kim Davis helped seal his win.
Bevin advocated for Davis while running for governor, visited her when she was in jail, and publicly asked outgoing Governor Steve Beshear to change the marriage license forms to accommodate Davis. Beshear refused, rightly stating that state lawmakers determine what must appear on that document.
In his first press conference since being elected, Bevin promised one of his first acts will be to make the changes Kim Davis has requested, and he will bypass the state legislature, using an executive order to make the change.
“One thing I will take care of right away is we will remove the names of the county clerks from the marriage form,†Bevin promised during the presser, Reuters reports.
One other campaign promise Bevin will keep: he says he will shut down Kynect, Kentucky’s Obamacare insurance exchange marketplace, an act expected to force over 400,000 people to once again not have health insurance. Kentucky, thanks to Gov. Beshear and Kynect, had the largest drop in the rate of uninsured people under Kynect.
Yesterday, Kim Davis lost an appeal, when the Sixth Circuit once again denied the county clerk her latest request for a “religious accommodation.”
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EARLIER:
Kim Davis In New Court Brief Blasts ‘Impotent Kentucky Governor’
Justice Kennedy Says Public Officials With Religious Objections To Marriage Equality Should Resign
Couple Who Sued Kim Davis Gets Their ‘Happily Ever After’ Moment
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