Who voted for and against the Respect for Marriage Act in the US Senate?
All 50 Democratic senators were joined by 12 Republicans to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, once enacted will codify same-sex and interracial marriage.
The Senate moved forward legislation on Wednesday that will codify the rights of same-sex and interracial marriages with a bipartisan filibuster proof majority. Until now, those rights were based on Supreme Court rulings.
However, after the highest court in the land overturned Roe v Wade, a fifty-year-old precedent, and removed protections on a woman’s right to have an abortion, Congress is moving to enshrine in law freedoms that are based on court rulings.
Who voted for and against the Respect for Marriage Act in the US Senate?
In a surprising turnaround, the Respect for Marriage Act passed the Senate with 62 votes in favor to 37 against clearing the 60-vote hurdle to avoid a filibuster of the legislation. Joining all 50 Democrats, 12 Republicans helped advance the bill that will codify the legality of same-sex and interracial marriages.
The legislation had been considered dead on arrival, but on Tuesday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints put out a statement in favor of the legislation. The Mormon church while it considers marriage being only between a man and a woman, felt that the bill provided “appropriate religious freedom protections while respecting the law and preserving the rights of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters.” Hours later Senator Mitt Romney, a Mormon himself, said that he would support the legislation.
He and 11 other GOP colleagues voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act. They include Roy Blunt, Shelley Moore Capito, Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, Cynthia Lummis, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Dan Sullivan, Thom Tillis and Todd Young.
Still, 37 Republicans voted against the measure, including Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell, despite a majority of GOP voters supporting same-sex marriage.
The Respect for Marriage Act repeals DOMA
At the same time the legislation will repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a 1996 law that said the federal government would not recognize any same-sex marriages performed by states effectively denying same-sex couples federal benefits. DOMA is currently unenforceable after the rulings by the Supreme Court in United States v Windsor and Obergefell v Hodges.
However, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the high court “should reconsider” those precedents, and others, in his opinion for overturning Roe v Wade. Were the court to overturn those rulings, as it is still on the books, DOMA could be reinstated.