Douthat praises Mormon families:
The state of Utah has one of the lowest abortion rates in the country and one of the lowest rates of out-of-wedlock births. It has a high marriage rate, a relatively low divorce rate, and the highest birth rate (despite a low teen pregnancy rate) of any state. An America that looked more like Utah would have more intact families, less child poverty, fewer abortions — and, for that matter, a better fiscal outlook as the Baby Boomers retire.
He doesn't mention the unique nature of Mormon marriages: they are the only ones that are without the "till death do us part" constriction. Mormon marriages are eternal. If you believe that, divorce really isn't much of an option. But Ross also fears that social acceptance of marriage equality will lead to stigmatization of these types of marriages:
If the conservative case for gay marriage is correct — a view held by manywritersI esteem — then such a view can and should coexist with a deep appreciation for the things that Mormon marital culture does well. (Indeed, some of these writers would argue that redefining marriage to include gay unions is a prerequisite for making more traditional understandings of heterosexual wedlock credible to the younger generation.) Obviously I hope they’re right about that potential coexistence. I also think there’s not-implausible alternative, though, which is that a society that has universalized same-sex marriage will have more difficulty than ever acknowledging, in anything but the most backhanded and grudging fashion, that more traditional and religiously-oriented marital cultures do anything well at all.
I have no idea why. There is enormous diversity among heterosexual marriages right now – from yuppie childless bicoastal couples to ultra-orthodox families in Brooklyn to Brady Bunch arrangements to archaic forms of marital servitude among some new immigrants. Same-sex marriages and Mormon marriages all fall easily within this vast American spectrum.
The Dish 