"I very much feel that marriage is a sacrament, and that sacrament should extend and can extend to that legal entity of a union between, what is traditionally in our Western values has been defined, as between a man and a woman," said Frist, appearing on ABC's "This Week" program. "So I would support the amendment."
Introduced before the House of Representatives in June, the constitutional amendment would deem that legal marriage in the United States "shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman." It would also prohibit the Constitution or any State constitution, or State or Federal law from being construed to require that marital status or its legal incidents be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.
Of the Supreme Court's ruling in the Texas sodomy law case, Frist said he was afraid it could lead to occasions "where criminal activity within the home would in some way be condoned."
"And I'm thinking of, whether it's prostitution or illegal commercial drug activity in the home, and to have the courts come in, in this zone of privacy, and begin to define it gives me some concern," Frist added.
To become effective, a constitutional amendment must pass by two thirds votes in both the House and Senate and then be approved or "ratified" by 38 of the 50 state legislatures within seven years of its passage by Congress.
