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A bill designed to protect same-sex and interracial marriage is set to receive a final vote on Tuesday night after senators agreed to hold votes on three amendments proposed by Republican senators.
So far, 12 Republicans have cast votes in support of advancing the bill, and more could emerge when the final version comes up.
Senators have taken several procedural votes in the last two weeks on the bill, entitled the «Respect for Marriage Act,» which was was first passed by the Democratic-controlled House in July amid concerns that the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in June might put marriage equality at risk as well.
In a concurring opinion to the court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended 50 years of a constitutional right to an abortion, conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the precedent underpinning same-sex marriage — which was legalized by the Court in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling — should be «reconsidered» as well.
The bill garnered 47 Republican votes when it passed the House in July, but momentum slowed when it reached the Senate, where Republicans expressed concerns about religious liberty.
