The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a landmark bill that codifies federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, before heading to the president’s desk for signature by President Joe Biden. Cleared the hurdles of
“Sending this bill to the president’s desk sends a powerful message that love is love, family is family, and that this Congress is united against hate and discrimination,” said Judy Chu of California. lawmakers said on Thursday.
The Senate last week approved a bill called the Marriage Respect Act. The bill provides federal protections for marriages between same-sex couples, including provisions that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 while requiring states to allow marriages that took place in other states. The act of defining marriage as between a man and a woman. However, the bill does not require every state to legalize same-sex marriage if the Supreme Court reverses its decision to legalize it nationally.
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The bill secured the support of 12 Republican senators in last week’s ballot after the House approved a version of the bill earlier this year. The bill returned to the House of Representatives after the Senate added some religious liberty elements.
Weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Thursday, when Justice Clarence Thomas suggested openness to reconsidering a similarly landmark ruling in a concurring opinion. Fewer Republicans joined House Democrats to approve the Senate bill than in July. It has spurred legislators to seek preemptive protection of relevant rights.
Some Republicans opposed the bill, calling it “unnecessary,” “irrelevant,” and not threatening Americans as the Democrats proposed. He argued that he strongly insisted on the line of
Missouri Republican Rep. Vicky Hertzler said on the House floor Thursday, “Let’s be clear: Obergefel is not in danger.” “But people and institutions of faith do.”
Indeed, Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, said the decision had no impact other than abortion, and said the decision “concerns the constitutional right to abortion.” It is a thing and does not relate to other rights.”
But Democrats point to Thomas’ apparent willingness to reconsider precedents protecting contraception and same-sex marriage. While agreeing not to, “in future litigation, Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell” is a case that establishes rights to contraception, intimacy between same-sex couples, and equality in marriage.
Maryland’s House Majority Leader Stenny Hoyer said Thursday, “After ignoring decades of precedent to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has reason to believe it won’t do the same for marriage equality. There is no statement to the republicans.
Much of the backlash to the bill from Republicans was around protecting religious liberty, and the new language in the Senate version of the bill sought to counter this. It clarifies that there is no need for protection and that religious groups are not required to practice same-sex marriage.
The bill’s passage came at just the right time, as Democrats are just weeks away from handing over control of the House to Republicans, who secured a narrow majority in the midterm elections. It also comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was preparing to end her decades-long tenure leading the caucuses.
Pelosi celebrated the legislation in a Washington Post op-ed published Wednesday.
“Just as I started my career fighting for the LGBTQ community, I am very pleased that one of the last bills I will sign as a speaker will be a law that respects marriage. It’s meant to never interfere with your marriage again, “love,” she wrote.