Will Republican senators aid and abet the further erosion of religious liberty in the institution of marriage?

We may find out in the next two weeks.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street. This is Breakpoint.

According to NBC News, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York plans a vote on the misleadingly named Respect for Marriage Act, perhaps as soon as the next two weeks.

While the name of the bill sounds as if it affirms marriage, it would in fact redefine marriage, finally,

and from the federal legislature into law.

This new understanding would firmly root marriage and nothing more than abstract desire,

redefining it from the institution it's always

been, one that offered a bedrock for civilization to thrive by reflecting the biological

realities of who men and women really are, and by serving the needs and best interests of children

through the legal recognition of mothers and fathers. This new bill would replace the 1996

Defense of Marriage Act,

which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It would also shore up and extend the

application of a Bergerfeld v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court decision that overturned

marriage laws in dozens of states, enshrined same-sex marriage as the law of the land,

and redefined the institution of

marriage by judicial fiat. This bill is the product of fear from the political left. In the recent

Dobbs decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Roe v. Wade had been wrongly decided and then returned

the task of abortion lawmaking to the states. The fear here is that a conservative Supreme Court could also overturn

Obergefell, although only one justice has indicated willingness to do that and would send the question

of same-sex marriage back to the states. Part of the political calculation with advancing this bill

at this time is to mitigate what many predict to be a grim reaping for the Democratic Party in the

...