On March 26 and 27, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases involving same-sex marriage. Windsor v. United States challenges the constitutionality the DOMA’s definitions of “spouse” as a person of the opposite sex who is an individual’s husband or wife, and “marriage” as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife. DOMA effects a myriad of federal laws, including the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Hollingsworth v. Perry addresses the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 passed in 2008, that restricted “marriage” to the union of one man and one woman.
