A bevy of medical device companies signed on to an amicus brief filed today urging the U.S. Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage, joining a diverse group of big-business interest that includes Apple (NSDQ:AAPL), Google (NSDQ:GOOG) and the world-champion San Francisco Giants and New England Patriots.
Pure-play device makers Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) and St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) joined diversified companies with large medtech businesses Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Danaher (NYSE:DHR) and GE (NYSE:GE) in signing the brief. Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) and Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX) also signed on.
"More than 70% of Americans live in a state that celebrates and recognizes same-sex marriages. But many states continue to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying, and decline to recognize the valid, existing marriages of citizens married to a spouse of the same sex. This fractured legal landscape harms employers and employees alike," according to the brief, which was joined by a total of 379 organizations.
"Discriminatory state laws force amici to implement inconsistent policies across the various jurisdictions in which we operate, our stated corporate principles of diversity and inclusion notwithstanding. Our ability to grow and maintain our businesses by attracting and retaining the best employee talent is hindered. The patchwork of state laws applicable to same-sex marriage thus impairs our business interests and employer/employee relations," according to the brief.
The court must decide whether states have the right to ban gay marriage. The Supremes are slated to hear an extended, 2½-hour argument in cases concerning same-sex marriage bans in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee. The justices will consider whether same-sex marriage bans are prohibited by the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. A ruling is due by the end of June.
There are 37 states where gay marriage has been allowed to proceed, although a legal battle is ongoing in Alabama, with the state’s top court putting it on hold.
The Supreme Court cases come 2 years after the high court set off a wave of pro-gay marriage lower-court rulings by invalidating a federal law that restricted benefits to heterosexual couples. At the time of that June 2013 ruling, only 12 of the 50 states permitted gay marriage.
Businesses also backed gay marriage advocates in the previous Supreme Court case.
Material from Reuters was used in this report.
