Over 1.21 million couples divorced, compared to 1.05 million in 1995 and 0.8 million in 1990. A Chinese newspaper says the numbers show that China's family planning policy has been successful. Horn is the founder and President of the National Fatherhood Initiative and one of the founding members of the Marriage Savers Board. Marriage-only groups are hailing the appointment as an opportunity to promote marriage through public policy. The Alternatives to Marriage Project believes in supporting married couples.
Policies promoting marriage, however, too often cause harm to unmarried relationships and famlies.
Arkansas Adopts Covenant Marriage Option Arkansas has become the third state to offer marrying couples the choice between regular civil marriages and covenant marriages, which make divorces harder to get. Louisiana and Arizona already have covenant marriage laws. Couples who marry under Arkansas' new law promise to stay together for life, get counseling if they have problems, and are allowed to divorce only in a few situations such as adultery, a felony, or physical or sexual abuse. A year after Vermont became the first state in the union to grant state marriage rights to same-sex partners, a lesbian couple is seeking to have a civil union they obtained in Vermont recognized in their home state of Georgia. This is also the first challenge of the constitutionality of the federal Defense Of Marriage Act, which allows states to choose not to recognize a same-sex union formed in another state.