Conservatives are already pushing back with federal legislation against the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act. Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp said Tuesday he will introduce the Federal Marriage Amendment, a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between one man and one woman.
“These unelected judges have allowed the desires of adults to trump the needs of children,” Huelskamp said in a statement. “Decades of research on families, combined with generations and centuries of human experience, all agree—children do best when they have a married mom and dad in the home.”
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday to overturn the section of the 1996 law that strictly defined marriage as being between a man and a woman and blocked same-sex couples from many of the benefits and programs available to legally married couples. The Court also declined to overturn a lower court ruling that struck down Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Huelskamp criticized the Supreme Court’s “illogical” decisions, saying that the Court’s ruling on DOMA allows states to define marriage by upholding Section 2 (which preserves states’ rights), but contradicts their ruling on Proposition 8 by discarding the will of millions of Californians who voted in 2008 to “defend traditional marriage.”
Huelskamp is likely to receive support from many of his Republican colleagues in the House when he introduces this amendment. Texas Rep. Randy Weber said in a press conference following the ruling, “The Supreme Court seems to be in collusion with the president and his injustice department,” and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann issued a statement condemning the Supreme Court for attempting to “undo what a holy God has instituted.”
Watch our interview on Thursday with former congressman Steve Gunderson, the only Republican to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996:
Traci Lee