Bush's marriage brokers take another hit

Americans United lawsuit seeks to block taxpayer money from being used by faith-based organizations to promote marriage

In 2005, the Vancouver, Washington-based Northwest Marriage Institute, a fundamentalist Christian organization, received two federal grants worth $97,750; a $50,000 Compassion Capital Fund grant came from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and a $47,750 sub-grant came from the Institute for Youth Development, an intermediary organization that distributes "faith-based" funds for HHS.

On Tuesday, September 12, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United) filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Tacoma, Wash., -- on behalf of 13 state residents -- against HHS, seeking to block taxpayer funding of the Northwest Marriage Institute program because it consists of "Bible-based" marriage education.