Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on April 11, 2001.

The case was heard by Thomas E. Connolly, J., on motions for summary judgment.

The Supreme Judicial Court granted an application for direct appellate review.

Mary Lisa Bonauto (Gary D. Buseck with her) for Hillary Goodridge.

Judith S. Yogman, Assistant Attorney General, for Department of Public Health.

The following submitted briefs for amici curiae:

Joseph P.J. Vrabel, Mark D. Mason, & Martin W. Healy for Massachusetts Bar Association.

Leslie Cooper & James D. Esseks, of New York, Jon W. Davidson & Shannon Minter, of California, Elliot M. Mincberg & Judith E. Schaeffer, of the District of Columbia, & John Reinstein, Sarah R. Wunsch, Paul Holtzman, & Hugh Dun Rappaport for Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts & others.

Paul Benjamin Linton, of Illinois, & Thomas M. Harvey for Robert J. Araujo & others.

Dwight G. Duncan for Massachusetts Family Institute, Inc., & others.

Glen Lavy, of Arizona, Stephen W. Reed, of California, & Bertin C. Emmons for National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, Inc., & others.

Robert W. Ash & Vincent P. McCarthy, of Connecticut, & Philip E. Cleary for The Common Good Foundation & others.

Don Stenberg, Attorney General of Nebraska, Mark L. Shurtleff, Attorney General of Utah, Brent A. Burnett, Assistant Attorney General of Utah, & Mark Barnett, Attorney General of South Dakota, for the State of Utah & others.

Chester Darling & Michael Williams for Massachusetts Citizens Alliance & another.

Daniel Avila for The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts.

Joshua K. Baker, of California, & Robert G. Caprera for José Martín de Agar & others.

Wendy J. Herdlein, of California, & James R. Knudsen for the Honorable Philip Travis & others.

Steven W. Fitschen, of Virginia, for The National Legal Foundation.

Jeffrey A. Shafer & David R. Langdon, of Ohio, William C. Duncan, of Utah, & Wendy J. Herdlein, of California, for Marriage Law Project.

Lisa Rae, Kenneth Elmore, Arthur Berney, & Josephine Ross for The Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry & others.

Ann DiMaria for The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission & others.

Anthony Mirenda, Vickie L. Henry, Lucy Fowler, John M. Granberry, Rachel N. Lessem, & Gabriel M. Helmer for Robert F. Williams & others.

Kenneth J. Parsigian for Peter W. Bardaglio & others. David Cruz, of New York, John Taylor Williams, Carol V. Rose, Debra Squires-Lee, Christopher Morrison, & Marni Goldstein Caputo for William E. Adams & others.

Martin J. Newhouse & Katharine Bolland for Coalition gaie et lesbienne du Québec & others.

Joseph Ureneck, pro se.

Teresa S. Collett, of Texas, & Luke Stanton for Free Market Foundation.

Peter F. Zupcofska, L. Tracee Whitley, Heidi A. Nadel, & Corin R. Swift for Boston Bar Association & another.

Mary Jo Johnson, Jonathan A. Shapiro, & Amy L. Nash for The Massachusetts Psychiatric Society & others.

Tony R. Maida, Nina Joan Kimball, & Justine H. Brousseau for Libby Adler & others.

Daryl J. Lapp, Kevin D. Batt, & Katharine Silbaugh for Monroe Inker & another.

David Zwiebel, Mordechai Biser, & Nathan J. Diament, of New York, & Abba Cohen, of the District of Columbia, for Agudath Israel of America & others.

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