Democrats set votes to protect same-sex marriage and contraception, fearing Supreme Court
The House plans to vote this week to codify same-sex marriage and legal contraception nationwide, fearing that the Supreme Court could rescind those rights in the wake of its abortion ruling.
WASHINGTON — The House plans to vote this week to codify same-sex marriage and legal contraception nationwide, fearing that the Supreme Court could rescind those rights after it overturned the constitutional right to abortion last month.
The Democratic-controlled chamber is set to vote Tuesday on the Respect for Marriage Act, which would establish legal protections for marriage between same-sex couples nationwide, according to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's office. The House is poised to vote later in the week on the Right to Contraception Act, a bill that would protect access to birth control.
Democratic leaders said they plan to bring those bills to a vote after Justice Clarence Thomas, writing separately in the ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, said the newly conservative Supreme Court should follow its abortion ruling by rescinding Obergefell v. Hodges and Griswold v. Connecticut, which prohibited states from banning gay marriage and contraception, respectively.
With abortion overturned, what else is next?June 25, 202201:45Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats in a letter Monday that the House will pass the bills "this week" to enshrine those rights in order “to protect freedom in our nation, as extremist Justices and lawmakers take aim at more of our basic rights.”
The two measures are expected to pass the House with Democratic support — and potentially some Republicans. It's unclear if they can pass the Senate, which is split 50-50 between the two parties and where the bills would need at least 10 GOP votes to defeat a filibuster. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is a co-sponsor of the marriage equality bill, but is the only Republican senator, so far, to champion the bill.
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