Military widow Karen Morgan makes case against Defense of Marriage Act

Thursday night on Current TV's "Viewpoint," host John Fugelsang welcomed Karen Morgan, widow of U.S. Army veteran Charlie Morgan, who died of breast cancer. Karen Morgan, who married Charlie in Vermont in a civil union in 2000, is being denied spousal benefits under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 federal law that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman.

"Karen, what benefits would you be entitled to today had you been in a heterosexual marriage?" asked Fugelsang.

"I would be entitled to any survivorship benefits," Morgan replied, "which would be VA, Social Security, a certain percentage of Charlie's base pay. Those are the types of things. I would also be entitled to health care, health insurance, dental. I would be responsible for paying for those, but I would at least have access to them for the rest of my life."

"Right now, I can't have access to any of those things," she explained. "I can't even get an ID card to visit base or take care of family business on base."

Fugelsang asked her whether she feels DOMA will be overturned soon or years from now.

“I’m very optimistic that DOMA is going to be declared unconstitutional," she said. "I think that the public has made a decision on that. So, I do think it’s going to happen."

Watch the video, embedded via Current TV, below: