This tableau has generated heated responses from groups like the conservative Christian Family Research Council, whose members have monitored the couple's activities.

Gary Bauer, the head of the conservative Family Research Council, said he was shocked when he watched segments of the event on television.

Kenneth L. Connor, president of the conservative Family Research Council, called that argument "empty sophistry."

Janet Parshall, chief spokeswoman for the conservative Family Research Council, also condemned the coalition's mailing.

Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, said he believed that the filibuster agreement had simply "delayed the real showdown on this issue."

Gary Bauer, head of the socially conservative Family Research Council, predicted the issue would be "a major battleground in the 1990s".

The president of the conservative Family Research Council said it was "an invasion of privacy."

"Serrano's like Madonna," says Robert Knight, a policy analyst at the conservative Family Research Council.

Without the amendment, "we wouldn't support it," said Robert Maginnis, a policy analyst for the conservative Family Research Council.