It's obvious from Maine's Senators Snowe and Collins that Maine has SERIOUS problems. They should make a decision already.

It affects straight couples because it equates their right to procreate together to a same-sex couple's right to procreate together, which requires using modified gametes or substitute gametes. That equates using one's own genes to having to use modified genes or someone else's genes. Therefore, it basically eliminates everyone's procreation rights entirely, because gay couples can't procreate with their own unmodified genes.

We have to say that there is a fundamental right to procreate with someone of the other sex using their own genes, and no right to procreate with someone of the same sex, or with modified gametes. In order to preserve and respect the unique rights of a married man and a woman, we have to say that same-sex couples do not have equal rights.

We can enact Civil Unions that are defined as "marriage minus conception rights" to give same-sex couples all the other rights of marriage without stripping conception rights from everyone's marriage or legalizing same-sex conception and genetic engineering of children. Those are both unacceptable outcomes, and at least one of them is unavoidable. The only way to stop genetic engineering and also preserve everyone's equal conception rights is to stop same-sex marriage.

We'd of course also need a federal law to stop genetic engineering, stopping same-sex marriage won't do that by itself.