The impending threat to religious liberty in the so-called ‘Respect for Marriage Act’

Nov 23, 2022 by Jill

from AAC:

The midterm elections may be over, but that does not mean that the raging fight for religious freedom, and for the Judeo-Christian values which have guided our society since its founding, is over.

On November17, 2022, H.R. 8404, “The Respect for Marriage Act,” was brought to the Senate floor for a vote as part of its lame-duck legislative agenda. While the bill fell short of the needed 60 votes, nevertheless, it garnered 53 votes . It is now back for revisions with the hope of overcoming the objections of enough opponents to pass.

What is so troubling about this legislation which is said now to include an amendment to address religious liberty objections?

The bill’s proponents claim that The Respect for Marriage Act’s is intended to protect same-sex marriage by making it a federal law. So, what’s the big deal? Hasn’t the Supreme Court already made it unconstitutional for states to restrict same-sex marriage?

Actually, the Act would go much farther than simply making same sex marriage a federal Law. Rather, Section 5 defines marriage as:

For the purposes of any federal law, rule, regulation in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual’s marriage is between 2 individuals and is valid in the State with a marriage was entered into . . . .

As can be seen from Section 5, the Bill is intended to remove State sovereignty over each State’s marriage laws by requiring each State to give legal recognition to another State’s marriage laws. And with the broad language of Section 5, the laws in question would not be limited to same-sex marriage. In fact, each State will be required to recognize every other State’s marriage laws, even if contrary to that State’s own laws. As an example, each State would be required to recognize a so called “child bride” marriage which is legal in a few states like California which have no age limits for marriage. Under this scenario, the State with the lowest common denominator would dictate the law for the rest of the nation.

Read here