United States
Same-sex marriages: US Senate postpones vote
Protect same-sex marriages: The Democrats’ plan has not yet succeeded. photo
© Julia Nikhinson/AP/dpa
After the US Supreme Court overturned abortion rights, Democrats want to prevent same-sex marriage rights from being overturned. Success is yet to come.
The US Senate wants to postpone a vote on a bill protecting the right to same-sex marriage because of a lack of Republican support.
The vote should take place later this year, said the office of the group leader of the Democrats, Chuck Schumer, on Thursday. Earlier, a bipartisan group of senators asked Schumer to delay voting until after the November congressional election to increase the chances of success. Schumer expressed disappointment that the Senate has not yet assembled the necessary number of Republican senators to pass the bill.
Protect same-sex marriages
The U.S. House of Representatives voted in July to introduce federal legislation protecting the right to same-sex marriage. The text was adopted non-partisan at the time – 47 Republican MPs also voted in favor. At the same time, 157 Republicans voted against it.
The background to the vote is the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn abortion rights. Since this right is not protected by federal law, the states are now enacting far-reaching restrictions and prohibitions. Democrats now want to prevent the same-sex marriage law from being overturned in a similar way. The law is also intended to protect marriages between people of different ethnic groups.
Democrats rely on Republicans in the Senate
Since the Democrats only have a wafer-thin majority in the Senate, they need the votes of ten Republicans to even get certain bills to be voted on. A group of Democrats and Republicans have been negotiating this for the past few weeks.
For Republicans, voting before the congressional elections is tricky, and they don’t want to take a position. If the project passed Congress, it would be a huge win for Democrats. However, according to surveys, a majority of Republican supporters also support same-sex marriage. If the law fails because of the Republicans, it would be difficult for many voters to get across.