The Senate is poised to take up a bill to codify same-sex marriage Wednesday with an amendment for religious liberty that could get enough Republicans on board to avoid the filibuster.
A bipartisan group of senators said they are “confident” the Respect for Marriage Act will have the 10 Republican votes necessary to begin formal consideration when it comes up for a procedural vote.
The group — Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) — crafted an amendment to address religious freedom concerns on the GOP side. The bill was shelved earlier this year until after the midterm elections to garner more Republican support.
RON JOHNSON DOUBTS SENATE VIABILITY OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BILL
“The Respect for Marriage Act is a needed step to provide millions of loving couples in same-sex and interracial marriages the certainty that they will continue to enjoy the freedoms, rights, and responsibilities afforded to all other marriages,” the group said in a statement. “Through bipartisan collaboration, we’ve crafted commonsense language to confirm that this legislation fully respects and protects Americans’ religious liberties and diverse beliefs, while leaving intact the core mission of the legislation to protect marriage equality.”
The amendment ensures religious nonprofit groups will not be forced to violate their beliefs, affirms that right-to-conscience considerations apply to the bill, and makes clear that the bill doesn’t allow for unions of more than two people.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced Monday that he would bring the bill up for a test vote on Wednesday, saying, “No American should ever be discriminated against because of who they love, and passing this bill would secure much-needed safeguards into federal law.”
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Tillis addressed concerns over a House version of the bill that passed in July with the support of 47 Republicans.
“The confusion here is we’re doing the House bill as a vehicle. It’s a nonstarter. I wouldn’t have supported it,” he said. “Now, we’ve got this substitute amendment, and I think as people review it and they hear from a number of religious organizations and religious liberties organizations, it’s important — hopefully, it’ll have positive influence.”
Tillis wasn’t sure whether the bill would have more than 10 senators on board.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said if exceptions for religious institutions are “included in the final bill, I intend to support it.”
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told the Washington Examiner he would vote against cloture on the legislation.
The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade prompted the legislation due to Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion that the downfall of federally protected abortion access should also trigger the reconsideration of “all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” with Obergefell v. Hodges being the 2015 decision that defined marriage as the union of two people, regardless of sex.
