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The Senate is set to vote Tuesday on final passage of a bill that would enshrine gay marriage in federal law, requiring require individual states to recognize another state’s legal marriage.
Opponents of the Respect Marriage Act contend the bill’s stated protections for religious liberty would not stand up in court. They argue the bakers, florists and others in the wedding industry who have been punished for acting on their belief that marriage is a lifelong conjugal union between one man and one woman would be even more susceptible to prosecution.
On Monday night, the Senate agreed to hold three amendment votes beginning at 3:45 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday before a final passage vote. The bill already has the support of 12 Republican senators who voted Nov. 16 to advance it, clearing the 60-vote procedural hurdle 62-47 in the evenly divided Senate. The House would then need to approve the Senate version before sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk. The House passed the bill in July with the votes of 47 Republicans.
The Republican senators who voted to advance the bill were Roy Blunt of Missouri, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming , Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mitt Romney of Utah, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana.
The bill repeals the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act with the aim of protecting same-sex and interracial marriage by requiring the recognition of valid marriages regardless of «sex, race, ethnicity or national origin.»
Democrats introduced it after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, expressing concern about a concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas arguing the rationale for Roe was the rationale for several other landmark decisions, including Obergefell.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said he plans to speak on the Senate floor Tuesday to urge his colleagues to vote for an amendment to safeguard religious liberty.
«Without the protections provided in my amendment, it will be open season on the rights of the faithful,» he wrote on Twitter.
