(RoyalPatriot.com )- Twelve Republicans joined Democrats to advance the Respect for Marriage Act by a vote of 62-37.
According to reports, the bill gained 62 votes, two more than the 60 votes required to invoke cloture and begin or stop discussion. In July, 47 Republican members of the House voted in favor of the bill.
Here are the twelve Republican-lite senators who always side with Democrats.
Mitt Romney (UT)
Cynthia Lummis (WY)
Lisa Murkowski (AK)
Rob Portman (OH)
Roy Blunt (MO)
Richard Burr (NC)
Shelley Moore Capito (WV)
Susan Collins (ME)
Joni Ernst (IA)
Dan Sullivan (AK)
Thom Tillis (NC)
Todd Young (IN)
This bill would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, portions of which were struck down by the Supreme Court in Windsor v. U.S.
The court ruled that the law’s definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman violates the equal protection guarantees of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
According to reports, in its 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court further eroded DOMA by prohibiting states from denying same-sex couples the right to marry.
The Respect for Marriage Act would not ensure citizens’ right to engage in same-sex marriages. Currently, this right is safeguarded by the Obergefell judgment. If this verdict is reversed, the repeal of DOMA would virtually require states to accept same-sex marriages authorized by other states.
DOMA stipulated that states were not compelled to recognize same-sex marriages licensed in other jurisdictions. Even if Obergefell were reversed, the Respect for Marriage Act would require states to accept licenses granted by others, including states prohibiting same-sex marriage.
If the Senate approves the bill, it will be delivered to President Joe Biden for his signature.
According to reports, Romney stated that he still believed in traditional marriage after voting in support of the Respect for Marriage Act alongside a handful of his Republican colleagues.
Republican Mike Lee stated on his personal Twitter account before the vote that the Respect for Marriage Act’s religious provisions was very feeble.
Lee wrote that no American should fear legal dangers for holding honest religious ideas or convictions. The bill currently before the Senate poses a threat and provides no protections for religious freedom.
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin stated that the Respect for Marriage Act is superfluous since the Obergefell decision is settled law.
Party elites only show “respect” when it suits them.
