Gay marriage law urged

A commission has concluded that legislators should allow gay couples to marry, setting up what could be a spirited debate over whether the state should be the first to allow gay marriage by passing a law, rather than by court mandate.

In its final report, a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press, the state’s Civil Union Review Commission concluded unanimously that New Jersey’s 2-year-old civil union law doesn’t do enough to give gay couples the same protections as heterosexual married couples.

The commission found that the rights afforded to those in civil unions were not always well understood, and that allowing gay couples to marry would alleviate the problem. For example, there have been instances when people in civil unions have been prevented from visiting their partners in hospitals and making medical decisions on their behalf, the commission found.