Patricia Heaton Battles with Michael J. Fox

Fox News is reporting on Patricia Heaton.

Patricia Heaton — who won an Emmy for her work on “Everyone Loves Raymond” — is taking sides in the stem-cell research debate.

She’s put herself on the opposite side of Michael J. Fox, the much-beloved actor who’s been battling Parkinson’s disease since 1991 and is a firm supporter of embryonic stem-cell research.

Heaton is now appearing in a commercial intended to persuade Missouri voters to vote against Amendment 2 on their ballot.

Fox, in his own commercial, urges voters to support the measure and Democrat Claire McCaskill, who is running for U.S. Senate against the incumbent, Jim Talent, a Republican who opposes embryonic stem-cell research.

Many scientists believe stem cell research could lead to cures for Parkinson’s and many other illnesses. Amendment 2 would constitutionally protect any embryonic stem cell research in Missouri that falls within federal law.

Heaton’s costars in the commercial are Jim Caviezel, who starred as Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ,” and three Missouri sports stars — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan, former St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner (now with the Arizona Cardinals) and Kansas City Royals designated hitter Mike Sweeney.

How ballplayers wound up in this commercial is one thing. But for Heaton, who plays on the same field as Fox — Hollywood and TV — it’s another. Suffice it to say, Fox’s many friends and supporters in Hollywood — from Steven Spielberg to the head of each network and more — know what the former “Spin City” star has been through since his diagnosis in 1991.

. . .

Heaton has been a relatively unknown political ideologist to most of her fans. My guess is they will be surprised to learn about her as she attacks Fox and repudiates his claims.

Six months ago I reported that Heaton — who then was campaigning to join ABC’s talk show “The View” as a correspondent — was honorary chairwoman of the group Feminists for Life. Jane Roberts, wife of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, is a consultant. Their slogan is “Refuse to Choose.”

Heaton has absolutely made a choice. The question now is whether her stance in Missouri will affect her standing in Hollywood.

(Posted by Trask)

New Jersey Supreme Court Finds Right to Same-Sex Unions

CNN is reporting on the recent decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court. 

In a decision likely to stoke the contentious election-year debate over same-sex marriage, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples.

The high court on Wednesday gave legislators six months to either change state marriage laws to include same-sex couples, or come up with another mechanism, such as civil unions, that would provide the same protections and benefits.

The court’s vote was 4-to-3. But the ruling was more strongly in favor of same-sex marriage than that split would indicate. The three dissenting justices argued the court should have extended full marriage rights to homosexuals, without kicking the issue back to legislators.

Advocates of same-sex marriage hailed the decision, a respite from many defeats this year in courts nationwide.

“That is wonderful news,” said Cindy Meneghin, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit by seven same-sex couples that prompted Wednesday’s decision. “We can only hope that that means marriage, because that is the only way they can give us full equality.” (Watch a couple say why they want to call their 32-year relationship marriage — 2:01 )

Garden State Equality, a gay rights group, announced that three state legislators plan to introduce a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. In an e-mail to supporters, the chairman of the group, Steven Goldstein, vowed that only “over our dead bodies will we settle for less than 100 percent marriage equality.”

Gay marriage opponents promise to fight
Those angered by the ruling predicted it will reinvigorate the fight in Congress for a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage nationwide.

“They took the future of marriage out of the hands of the people of New Jersey,” said Matt Daniels of the Alliance for Marriage, which supports the amendment. “They are holding a gun to the head of the legislature of New Jersey and saying pick between two bullets — one that allows civil unions and one that allows marriage.”

Sen. Sam Brownback a leading social conservative in Congress, said the New Jersey decision “warrants swift, decisive action by Congress in the form of passage of the Marriage Protection Amendment.”

“Huge social changes should be decided by the people and their elected representatives and should not be forced by the courts,” the Kansas Republican said in a written statement.

The federal amendment, which President Bush supports, has stalled in Congress. It has so far failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote to be submitted to the states for ratification.

Opponents of same-sex marriage contend the New Jersey decision could have a national impact because the state imposes no residency requirements for people seeking marriage. In essence, it could open the door for gay and lesbian couples from other states to marry in New Jersey and challenge laws against same-sex marriage in their own states.

The gay marriage debate intensified in 2004 when Massachusetts became the first and only state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. The state does not allow nonresidents to marry there, however.

(Posted by Trask)