CBS News Radio White House correspondent Steven Portnoy challenged White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about some opponents of the Respect for Marriage Act Act (RFMA) suspecting religious “discrimination.”
At the time of Tuesday’s briefing, President Joe Biden was set to sign the Respect for Marriage Act into law in order to codify the Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage in the 2015 ruling, Obergefell v. Hodges. The Senate incorporated a religious liberty amendment to prevent the legislation from having the ability to “diminish or abrogate a religious liberty or conscience protection otherwise available to an individual or organization under the Constitution of the United States or Federal law.”
“The president is about to enact a landmark piece of civil rights legislation, some of you can speak to the concerns and some have expressed that what’s actually in the bill could be read as something that codifies discrimination,” Portnoy began. “There’s a section here that speaks to the ability of non-profit religious organizations, faith-based social agencies, educational institutions, employees of those organizations, to deny services, accommodations, facilities, goods, advantages, privileges to gay couples. So how is that not codifying discrimination?”
“[The legislation] codifies federal recognition of same-sex marriages, that matters,” Jean-Pierre said. “Technically, the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] from the 1990s was still on the books but essentially dormant because of the Obergefell decision. This repeals DOMA and ensures federal recognition of same-sex marriages. It requires states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages performed in other states … That matters for so many millions of Americans across the country.” (RELATED: Same-Sex Marriage Bill Clears Major Hurdle In Senate With GOP Support)
The press secretary addressed the concerns of religious liberty by saying the bill has necessary protections for religious organizations and institutions. Some Republican opponents have argued the legislation could tamper the rights of organizations who oppose same-sex marriage by making them susceptible to lawsuits. She further touted that the bill passed both chambers of Congress with “bipartisan support,” given that 12 Republicans in the Senate and and 39 in the House voted alongside all Democrats in favor of the bill.
“We believe that RFMA contains strong protections for houses of worship and religious non-profits, and this question was well-litigated through the legislative process where it passed with both chambers of bipartisan support,” she continued.
Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy introduced an amendment to strengthen religious freedom protections in the bill, though House Democrats blocked the effort. Chairman of the House Rules Committee, Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, refused to allow the amendment to advance on the House floor.
“If we were to amend this, and it goes back to the Senate, for all intents and purposes it’s dead for the year,” McGovern said at a Rules Committee Meeting on Dec 5. “And many of us believe that we have a court right now that is hellbent on trying to reverse the rights for the LGBTQ community, and we do not trust them to respect marriage equality in this country.”
Roy called the bill an “abomination” due to its alleged threat to religious liberty, the Daily Signal reported.
“Today, Congress passed a law that violates the very core of the First Amendment, the Constitution, and the rights we hold dear as Americans,” Roy said, according to the outlet. “The so-called Respect for Marriage Act will result in predatory, activist lawsuits against good people of faith for simply living out their lives in line with their beliefs.”