NM domestic partnership bill grows

SANTA FE (KRQE) - Supporters of domestic partnership rights said their massive 825 page bill could be introduced Monday in Santa Fe during the regular session.

Todd McElroy of Equality New Mexico , an organization supporting the bill, said it will give unmarried couples, gay or straight, the same rights and benefits as married couples.

"Those are the property rights, rights of inheritance, medical decisions making, and those sorts of things that are automatically bestowed with a marriage license," McElroy said.

Last year's domestic partnership bill , which died in the Senate, was only 11 pages.

McElroy said this year's bill has grown so much because it spells out the more than 300 rights given to married couples in the state.

"I think the 800 page illustration just goes to shows all those things we take for granted when folks go to get marriage licenses," he said.

The one thing the bill leaves out is any language about marriage, which is something critics pounced on last year.

McElroy said the bill's length should not sway votes.

"This is a piece of civil rights legislation, so it is always the right time," McElroy said.

The New Mexican Conference of Catholic Bishops said they do not support the bill.

The organization spoke out against domestic partnership legislation last year as well.