The Washington Examiner reports that several Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have withdrawn their support for the so-called Respect for Marriage Act. 

The bad news, however, is that that act still passed.

Background

The bill, which can be found here, essentially states that the federal government will recognize same-sex marriages that take place in states where such marriages are legal. It says the same thing for interracial marriages.

The reader will likely recall that the U.S. Supreme Court, over the summer, overturned the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade. In doing so, the justices returned the controversial abortion issue back to the people and their state legislators.

Since then, there has been talk from the Democrats about trying to legalize abortion at the federal level. But, they have been unable to do so due to a lack of support.

In the meantime, some Democrats have been fearmongering about the possibility of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning prior legal decisions that recognize same-sex and interracial marriages. Two notable cases are the 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges and the 1967 case Loving v. Virginia decisions.

Accordingly, the Democrats, while they still have control over all three branches of government, have decided to try to get out ahead of this potential issue with some legislation protecting these types of "marriages."

It has passed

The "Respect for Marriage Act" initially made it through the House back in July. But, it took a while to make it through the U.S. Senate.

It was just last week that the Senate, by a margin of 61 to 36, passed its own version of the Act, a version that included a religious liberty amendment.

This amendment was intended to encourage more Republicans to support the passage of the bill, and, in the Senate, it did so. But, in the House, this time around, seven fewer Republican representatives voted for the passage of the bill than previously.

The seven Republicans are Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Cliff Bentz (R-OR), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Scott Perry (R-PA), and Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ).

Still, though, this wasn't enough to stop the passage of the bill. It made it through the House by a margin of 268 to 159.

Looking forward

Now, the so-called Respect for Marriage Act is headed to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

It's another usurpation by the federal government of an issue that ought to be left up to the people through their state legislators.