Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf
Page Number: 44

Cite as:  576 U. S. ____ (2015) 

5 

ROBERTS, C. J., dissenting 

ans.  It arose in the nature of things to meet a vital need:
ensuring  that  children  are  conceived  by  a  mother  and 
father  committed  to  raising  them  in  the  stable  conditions 
of  a  lifelong  relationship.    See  G.  Quale,  A  History  of 
Marriage  Systems  2  (1988);  cf.  M.  Cicero,  De  Officiis  57
(W.  Miller  transl.  1913)  (“For  since  the  reproductive  in-
stinct  is  by  nature’s  gift  the  common  possession  of  all 
living  creatures,  the  first  bond  of  union  is  that  between 
husband  and  wife;  the  next,  that  between  parents  and 
children;  then  we  find  one  home,  with  everything  in 
common.”).

The premises supporting this concept of marriage are so
fundamental  that  they  rarely  require  articulation.    The 
human race must procreate to survive.  Procreation occurs 
through  sexual  relations  between  a  man  and  a  woman.
When  sexual  relations  result  in  the  conception  of  a  child,
that  child’s  prospects  are  generally  better  if  the  mother
and father stay together rather than going their separate 
ways.  Therefore,  for  the  good  of  children  and  society, 
sexual relations that can lead to procreation should occur
only between a man and a woman committed to a lasting 
bond. 

Society  has  recognized  that  bond  as  marriage.    And  by
bestowing  a  respected  status  and  material  benefits  on
married  couples,  society  encourages  men  and  women  to 
conduct  sexual  relations  within  marriage  rather  than
without.  As  one  prominent  scholar  put  it,  “Marriage  is  a
socially arranged solution for the problem of getting people 
to stay together and care for children that the mere desire 
for  children,  and  the  sex  that  makes  children  possible,
does  not  solve.”    J.  Q.  Wilson,  The  Marriage  Problem  41 
(2002).

This  singular  understanding  of  marriage  has  prevailed 
in the United States throughout our history.  The majority
accepts  that  at  “the  time  of  the  Nation’s  founding  [mar-
riage] was understood to be a voluntary contract between