This is a loss for biblical marriage and religious freedom in America. Despite this, we can’t stop fighting and we can’t stop praying.
From Fox News. The House on Thursday passed the Respect for Marriage Act, which will require the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where they are legal but does not go as far as some Democrats wanted.
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The bill won approval in a 258-169 vote, after the Senate passed it 61-36 last week. The legislation now heads to the White House for President Biden’s signature into law. Despite warnings from Republicans in both chambers that the bill doesn’t do enough to protect religious liberty, 39 House Republicans voted for the bill.
Supporters of the bill hailed it as a safety net in the event the Supreme Court reverses a ruling that says the Constitution guarantees the right of same-sex couples to get married.
“This legislation is the latest step in House Democrats’ fight to win full equality for LGBTQ Americans and forge a more perfect union that our children, and their children … all of our children deserve,” outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday from the House floor.
“I find it deeply poignant, that as we prepare to bring the 117th Congress to a close, we are on the cusp of a great bipartisan moral victory in defense of a fundamental right of all Americans, a victory that will provide stability and reassurance to the millions of LGBTQ and interracial families that have come to rely on the constitutional right to marry,” added House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. …
The Respect for Marriage Act says the federal government will recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where they are legal, and includes a similar protection for interracial couples should the Supreme Court overturn a decision on that issue, Loving v. Virginia, that bans states from outlawing these marriages. …
When the bill was in the Senate, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., wrote an amendment aimed at adding religious liberty protections that the Senate approved. But some Republicans and conservative groups say that amendment doesn’t go far enough to protect people who fear litigation or government retaliation for their belief in traditional marriage. …
Tim Schultz, president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, told Fox News Digital that the passage of RMA is about “political realism,” and that both sides had to cede some ground in order to turn the language into law. “I think that this is actually a big political deal,” Schultz added. …
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(Excerpt from Fox News. Photo Credit: Drew Coffman on Unsplash)