In a landmark vote, the Senate has decided to pass the Respect for Marriage Act: a bill designed to strengthen federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriage. Per CNN, the bill received bipartisan support from all members of the Democratic caucus and 12 Republicans for a final vote of 61-36. Next, the bill move on to the House, where it will need approval before it can be signed into law by President Joe Biden. But we may not have to wait very long for that to happen. The House is expected to pass the bill by the end of the year or even as early as next week.
The bill would not create a national requirement for all states to legalize same-sex marriage. This means that certain states would be able to ban same-sex marriage in the event that the Supreme Court overturns Obergefell v. Hodges: the 2015 decision that legalized it. The Respect for Marriage Act would, however, obligate every state to recognize same-same marriages from other states.
The move is, in part, an acknowledgement of what can happen when certain rights aren’t codified into law. Such was the case for abortion rights, as we collectively learned from the fall of Roe v. Wade earlier this year. And amid the destruction of Roe, Justice Clarence Thomas foreshadowed his desire to “reconsider” the rights to same-sex marriage and contraception as well.
In the months since, steps have been taken to enshrine abortion access and same-sex marriage as constitutional rights. It’s heartening to see at least one of these bills advance to the final stage: clearing the president’s desk.
