After the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the fundamental right to abortion in the US, the Biden administration wants to protect same-sex marriage before the right-wing court. A law is now clearing the first hurdle in the US Senate – and time is running out.
Same-sex marriage, previously guaranteed by a Supreme Court ruling, is also to be enshrined in law in the United States. A corresponding legal text received a clear majority of 62 to 37 votes in a preliminary vote in the Senate in Washington. This exceeded the majority of at least 60 votes required for the procedural vote. The important thing is that in addition to the 50 senators from the Democrats, twelve Republicans also voted for the text. This clears the way for the final vote.
In 2015, the Supreme Court established the right of same-sex couples to marry in a historic decision. However, after the Court of Justice, which had increasingly moved to the right in recent years, abolished the country’s basic right to abortion, which had been in force for almost 50 years, in June, fears grew that same-sex marriage could also be in danger. In a commentary on the abolition of the basic right to abortion, the arch-conservative constitutional judge Clarence Thomas also questioned the fundamental judgment on same-sex marriage.
The House of Representatives voted in July for a bill called the Respect for Marriage Act. Among other things, it stipulates that all states must recognize marriages that were concluded in another state and are valid there. A law already classified as unconstitutional, which defines marriage as a bond between a man and a woman, will also be deleted.
The conservative Republicans could have blocked the bill in the Senate with their blocking minority. After weeks of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, however, an agreement was finally reached. After a final vote in the Senate, the text then has to go back to the House of Representatives before it can be signed by President Joe Biden. A broad majority of the US population supports same-sex marriage. The religious right, however, is firmly opposed.
The Democrats had pushed for the legislation to be rushed because they currently control both chambers of Congress. According to forecasts, however, the Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections on Tuesday last week.
The Republicans are likely to take control of the House of Representatives at the beginning of January with the start of the new parliamentary year. In contrast, the Democrats were able to defend their Senate majority in the midterms.
