UTAH BILL GIVES RIGHTS TO UNMARRIED COUPLES: From the Associated Press

A state senator has introduced a bill to give unmarried couples joint property and health care rights, fixing what many said was a problem with the constitutional ban on gay marriage.

But Sen. Gregory Bell, R-Fruit Heights, said the constitutional change approved by Utah voters in November wasn't his motivation.

"It addresses the need of persons who may have some relationship other than marriage to delegate responsibilities to each other," Bell said Tuesday.

That was the problem raised by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who warned the gay marriage ban could take away rights from common-law partners of different sexes. But if Bell's legislation is a solution to the amendment's flaws, the senator insisted he didn't mean it to be so.

Bell said Utah's gay marriage ban "did raise some practical problems," but he added, "I don't think there's any legal problem with the amendment."

He characterized his legislation as an effort to "make life simpler for people" in unconventional relationships.

Bell said two unmarried partners could affirm their rights by giving each power of attorney over the other, but that Senate Bill 89 simplifies the procedure with a state-sanctioned "mutual dependence benefits contract."

The contract would give unmarried partners 18 and over joint property ownership and hospital visitation rights. It would give one partner the right to make decisions for another who becomes incapacitated, including the right to consent to surgery or accept a transplanted organ.

The contract also would give one partner the right to bury another at death.

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posted by Eve at 1:40 PM VOTE

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