The Senate on Wednesday voted in bipartisan fashion to advance a bill that will enshrine protections for same-sex and interracial marriage into law.
The final vote was 62-37, with a dozen Republicans joining all present Democrats on the crucial test vote.
Support for the bill gained momentum in recent months in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade over the summer. In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the court should “reconsider” a number of other key rulings, including landmark decisions that granted a right to contraception and same-sex marriage – raising alarm that those rights might be next on the chopping block.
The House of Representatives passed their version of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in July, with 47 Republicans joining all present Democrats to pass the measure. But action on the bill was stalled until a group of lawmakers introduced an amendment to address religious liberties, which they believed would help the measure get enough Republican support to pass the Senate.
The motion needed backing of 10 Senate Republicans, in addition to all 50 Senate Democrats, in order to tee the bill up for final passage this week.
The Republicans who backed the bill on Wednesday were Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who negotiated the bill with Democrats, along with Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Richard Burr, R-N.C., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Todd Young, R-Ind.
Prominent "no" votes included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and outgoing Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
“We’re very hopeful that we will get the votes we need today to move forward," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters on Wednesday ahead of the vote.
Tillis, one of the lead GOP negotiators on the bill, echoed Schumer's sentiment, telling reporters: “I feel that we have the votes to pass.”
On Monday, Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Sen. Tillis, joined Democrats Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., to announce the amendment, which they said “fully respects and protects Americans’ religious liberties and diverse beliefs, while leaving intact the core mission of the legislation to protect marriage equality.”
Sen. Baldwin, one of the lead Democratic negotiators, told Spectrum News on Tuesday that she has "always felt very confident that we have a strong bipartisan vote that we can deliver" on the bill.
Baldwin added that lawmakers had worked together in the months since the House passed their version of the bill to assuage the fears of some Senate Republicans over religious liberties and other issues.
"The amended language was put together in consultation with precisely those Republicans," Baldwin told Spectrum News, adding that the bipartisan coalition "wanted to address concerns of Republican members who were deeply inclined to support the Respect for Marriage Act, but had concerns or questions.
"To be able to provide additional clarity, I think, has gotten us to a really strong place coming into that vote," she said.
The bipartisan group of senators called the legislation a “narrow but important bill” whose primary goal is two-pronged; first, to require the federal government to recognize marriages by law should they be legal in the state in which they were performed, and to “guarantee that valid marriages between two individuals are given full faith and credit, regardless of the couple’s sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.”
The bill does not, however, require states to change their laws in order to issue marriage licenses. It also ensures that religious non-profits will not be required to facilitate marriages that go against their beliefs, and further makes clear “that the bill does not require or authorize the federal government to recognize polygamous marriages.”
Senators added clarifying language that would prevent the bill “from being used to diminish or repeal” any religious liberty provisions awarded in the Constitution or under federal law, and states that an organization’s tax-exempt status may not be altered under the bill, provided that status “does not arise from a marriage.”
“For instance, a church, university, or other nonprofit’s eligibility for tax-exempt status is unrelated to marriage, so its status would not be affected by this legislation,” lawmakers wrote.