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Moral issues: Key dates

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(CNN) -- Some key dates surrounding moral issues:

Abortion

January 22, 1973: Roe v. Wade: The Supreme Court releases its landmark decision legalizing abortion.

June 25, 1990: Ohio v. Akron: The Supreme Court upholds an Ohio law requiring that minors get parental consent before having an abortion.

June 29, 1992: The Supreme Court rules in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that women do not need spousal consent in order to have an abortion.

November 5, 2003: President Bush signs the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act banning a controversial late-term abortion procedure.

March 6, 2006: South Dakota's governor signs the most restrictive abortion ban in the nation. Opponents blocked the law from going into effect and placed the issue on the November 7 ballot.

Flag burning

June 21, 1989: The Supreme Court rules in Texas v. Johnson that burning the American flag is a constitutionally protected form of free speech.

June 22, 2005: The House passes a constitutional amendment banning flag-burning.

June 27, 2006: The Senate defeats a constitutional amendment to ban flag-burning by one vote.

Same-sex marriage

September 21, 1996: President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage and defining marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman."

December 20, 1999: The Vermont Supreme Court rules that gay and lesbian couples should be given the same rights as heterosexual couples.

November 18, 2003: The Massachusetts Supreme Court rules that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

February 24, 2004: President Bush announces support for a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

May 17, 2004: The first legal same-sex marriages in U.S. history are performed in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

September 30, 2004: The House votes against amending the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

November 2, 2004: Voters in 11 states pass constitutional amendments defining marriage as being between a man and a woman.

September 29, 2005: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes legislation legalizing same-sex marriage.

June 6, 2006: Alabama becomes the 20th state to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

June 7, 2006: The Senate rejects a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

July 18, 2006: The House rejects a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

Stem cell research

August 9, 2001: President Bush announces in a nationally televised address the first-ever federal funding for research on existing embryonic stem cell lines, but prohibits funding for research on new stem cell lines.

April 26, 2002: Actor Christopher Reeve testifies before Congress on federal funding for stem cell research.

April 14, 2003: Researchers successfully complete the Human Genome Project.

July 29, 2005: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) announces his support for expanding federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, after initially supporting President Bush's 2001 policy. The move clears the way for the measure to be brought before the Senate.

July 19, 2006: President Bush issues his first-ever veto, rejecting a bill that would have increased federal funding for stem cell research.


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