OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 11:01 AM PT – Thursday, December 8, 2022
The Democrat-led Respect for Marriage Act is on its way to Joe Biden’s desk.
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the legislation in a 258 to 169 vote. Last week, the Senate approved the measure in a bipartisan 61-36 vote.
The bill requires that the federal government recognizes same sex marriages performed in states where it is legal. The bill also includes protection for interracial couples, should the Supreme Court overturn Loving v. Virginia, which bans states from outlawing interracial marriage.
Democrats celebrated the passing of the legislation. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) shared her thoughts on Twitter.
Republicans say the bill is an unnecessary overreach that addressed a non-existent threat. Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is an outspoken opponent of the legislation.
“The Democrats want Americans to believe that at any moment the Supreme Court could step in and overturn its opinions on Obergefell and Loving,” he argued. “It’s just not true.”
Despite its passage, Republicans and Conservative groups claim that the bill does not do enough to protect certain religious liberties in cases where beliefs in traditional marriage become an issue.
Biden has said he would “promptly and proudly” sign it into law once it arrived on his desk.
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