Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., announced in a
statement Monday that he and several other House members had introduced the "Respect for Marriage Act." The
legislation would also "repeal the
Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA), which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. While
Obergefell and an earlier Supreme Court decision,
United States v. Windsor, struck down DOMA as unconstitutional, supporters of the Respect for Marriage Act are attempting to codify same-sex marriage
into law in response to the Supreme Court's decision in
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned
Roe v. Wade. The push also follows Justice Clarence Thomas' remarks noting that
the doctrine of substantive due process was used to insist that the Constitution contained a right to abortion and the suggestion that the Supreme Court should should "reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents," including
Obergefell. However, Thomas agreed with the majority opinion in
Dobbs that "[n]othing in [the court’s] opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion."
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