Justice Kennedy Suggests Children Of Same-Sex Couples Suffer ‘Immediate Legal Injury’ From Ban

Early in this morning’s Supreme Court oral argument over the constitutionality of the California ban on same-sex marriage, Justice Anthony Kennedy suggested the children of same-sex couples suffer “immediate legal injury” from Proposition 8, according to Bloomberg. “They want their parents to have full recognition and status,” Kennedy said, adding that the “voice of those children” is important.

Kennedy, who is likely the swing vote, also suggested he was very uncomfortable striking down Proposition 8, according to a tweet from SCOTUSblog. Kennedy raised dismissing the case, which would leave in place the lower court ruling invalidating the same-sex marriage ban, but would not set any precedent about equal rights or marriage equality.

In response to Kennedy’s assertion, Justice Antonin Scalia questioned whether children would actually be harmed by Proposition 8, saying there is “considerable disagreement” about the “consequences” of same-sex marriage. “I take no position on whether it’s harmful or not, but it’s certainly true there is no answer to that scientific question,” he said, according to tweets from the Huffington Post’s Ryan Reilly.

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UnitedHealth Posts Narrow Earnings Beat, Shares Suffer

UnitedHealth Group, the largest U.S. health insurer, said on Thursday that it kept fourth-quarter 2012 costs under control and increased revenue by more 11 percent, helping earnings per share rise.

The company, which provides health care benefits through both employer and government paid insurance plans and serves the individual and military markets, also backed its forecast for at least 11 percent 2013 revenue growth and said earnings would be in a range of slightly down to up 4 percent.

After the earnings report, UnitedHealth's shares fell more than one percent in pre-market trading. (Click here for the latest before-hours quotes.)

UnitedHealth's business has benefited in recent years as consumers have cut back on medical services because of the weak economy, but the company also has had to adapt to new rules for insurers associated with the 2010 Patient Prevention and Affordable Care Act.

It said that in the fourth-quarter, commercial medical costs were a bit lower than it had expected and that its medical loss ratio, or the percentage of premiums paid for medical expenses, was 80.5 percent. The Affordable Care Act last year began requiring companies to spend at least 80 or 85 percent of premiums on medical care or provide a rebate to customers.

UnitedHealth, which bought 65 percent of Brazil's Amil Participacoes for $3.5 billion during the quarter, plans to increase its stake by 25 percent through buying shares from the public during the first half of 2013. That affiliate helped push international revenues to $1 billion in the fourth quarter, the company said.

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Catholic Legal Group: Illinois Constituents Will ‘Suffer’ From Marriage Equality

The Thomas More Law Center is the latest group to discourage Illinois lawmakers from supporting marriage equality. In addition to reiterating trite complaints about children having to learn same-sex families exist and religious hospitals having to serve gay patients, the Catholic legal group goes on to claim that any Illinois resident who isn’t free to discriminate against gay people will “suffer”:

The harms noted above do not begin to address the suffering of your constituents who must participate in and support same-sex unions: small bed & breakfast owners who would be forced to rent out their home for same-sex wedding weekends; solo photographers who would be forced to spend hours photographing and designing albums for same-sex wedding ceremonies that they believe to be sinful; family catering company owners being forced to prepare, feed, serve, and support same-sex wedding receptions, even though the family members oppose those receptions with every fiber of their being. In other states, such businesses have been fined and subject to injunctions, some even permanently shutting down to avoid legal penalty.

A “yes” vote will inflict these harms, all for the sake of giving the title “married” to some number of the fewer than 1% of Illinois households headed by same-sex couples.

It’s interesting how conservative groups are growing more blunt about their intent to discriminate. No interpretation is required to discern the present argument: people will suffer if they have to provide basic services to same-sex couples. This is a petulant attempt to preserve a superior status for heterosexuality while forcing same-sex families into the shadows. More importantly, the argument is irrelevant — it’s already illegal under the Illinois Human Rights Act to discriminate against anyone because of their sexual orientation when providing public services. This is just as true now with civil unions legal as it would be when marriage equality passes.

The group’s letter ends with a claim that marriage equality must be rejected “in the name of tolerance.” There is nothing about expressing a desire to deny services to a group of people that speaks to “tolerance.”

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