• (CNSNews.com) - A group of Republican congressmen are calling on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to recuse herself from abortion-related cases because of her close ties to NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.
  
  In a letter to Ginsburg, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) and 12 other Republicans, including Reps. Dave Weldon and Sue Myrick, pointed to a March 11, 2004 LA Times report that said "in January, Ginsburg gave opening remarks for the fourth installment in the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Distinguished Lecture Series on Women and the Law." http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200403/NAT20040323a.html

• Federal Marriage Amendment Proponents Offer Compromise http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114898,00.html
  
  Monday, March 22, 2004
  
  WASHINGTON — Congressional supporters of a constitutional ban on gay marriage unveiled a change in their proposal Monday that they said would leave state legislatures with the unambiguous right to recognize civil unions (search).

• Planned Parenthood Hires Chaplain to Add 'Spiritual' Element
  March 10, 2004 http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200403/CUL20040310b.html 
  
  (CNSNews.com) - Planned Parenthood, a frequent critic of the "religious right," has hired a chaplain to "articulate the spiritual dimensions of sexuality and reproduction."
   

Recent developments on the issue of gay marriage

— 03/16/04 Second Oregon county says gay couples can marry http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/16/oregon.same.sex/index.html

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— Dozens of same-sex couples sought marriage licenses Thursday from the New York City clerk's office but were turned away with a letter explaining that gay marriages are illegal in the state.

— Oregon's most populous county began issuing dozens of marriage licenses to same-sex couples Wednesday. Officials in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, said it would be unconstitutional discrimination to deny gay couples licenses, but Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski disagreed and Republicans demanded that Attorney General Hardy Myers stop the weddings.

— New Paltz, N.Y., Mayor Jason West, says he'll continue conducting same-sex weddings even though he has been criminally charged, and the mayor of Nyack, John Shields, promised to lead a group of same-sex couples to apply for marriage licenses.

— A conservative group called on California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to criminally charge San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has authorized thousands of gay weddings. A spokeswoman said Lockyer believes the issue should be resolved in the state Supreme Court.

— In Washington, D.C., Republican senators told a gathering of anti-gay marriage activists that a constitutional amendment banning the weddings is necessary. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said the "wildfire" of same-sex marriages will spread throughout the country if Congress fails to take action.

— Chicago's Daley: 'No problem' with gay marriage licenses.  Mayor Richard Daley said he would have "no problem" with Cook County issuing marriage licenses to gay couples in Chicago, the nation's third largest city.
 

—  New Jersey same-sex couples line up for marriage licenses - State attorney general to seek injunction. Tuesday, March 9, 2004 Posted: 10:15 AM EST (1515 GMT) - ASBURY PARK, New Jersey (AP) -- A day after the first gay wedding in New Jersey, several same-sex couples turned out at City Hall early Tuesday, hoping to obtain marriage licenses before the state attorney general sought an injunction barring officials from issuing any more.

—  BOSTON — An obscure 1913 law may trip up a wedding march of gay couples from around the country who hoped to come to Massachusetts and get hitched in May.
Ten weeks before gay marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts, municipal clerks are waiting for a ruling on a 90-year-old statute that bars them from issuing marriage licenses "if such marriage would be void" in the couples' home state. Since no state besides Massachusetts permits gay marriage, the law appears to object to clerks marrying gays from outside the Bay State.