U.S. Senate passes same-sex marriage safety invoice By Reuters

By Moira Warburton and Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate handed a invoice on Tuesday that may shield federal recognition of same-sex marriage, a measure taken up in response to worries the Supreme Court docket may overturn a 2015 determination that legalized it nationwide.

The narrowly tailor-made invoice, which might require the federal authorities to acknowledge a wedding if it was authorized within the state wherein it was carried out, is supposed to be a backstop if the Supreme Court docket acted in opposition to same-sex marriage.

It might not bar states from blocking same-sex or interracial marriages if the Supreme Court docket allowed them to take action.

“Immediately the lengthy however inexorable march in the direction of higher equality advances ahead,” Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer mentioned in an announcement.

“By passing this invoice, the Senate is sending a message that each American wants to listen to: irrespective of who you’re or who you’re keen on, you too deserve dignity and equal remedy below the regulation.”

The invoice was handed 61 to 36, with 60 votes wanted for passage. Twelve Republicans joined 49 Democrats in supporting the invoice. One Democrat, Georgia’s Raphael Warnock, was absent, as have been two Republican senators.

The same, however not equivalent, invoice handed the Home of Representatives earlier this yr with help from 47 Republicans and all Democrats. The Home would wish to approve the Senate model earlier than it’s despatched to President Joe Biden to signal into regulation.

No. 2 Home Democrat Steny Hoyer advised reporters on Tuesday the Home would seemingly take up the Senate’s model of the invoice subsequent week.

In June, the Supreme Court docket overturned the nationwide proper to an abortion, undoing 50 years of precedent.

In a concurring opinion, Supreme Court docket Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the court docket ought to contemplate reversing different choices defending particular person freedoms, together with the 2015 ruling on homosexual marriage.

About 568,000 married same-sex {couples} reside in the USA, in line with the U.S. Census Bureau.