WASHINGTON, D.C. (Penn Live) – Penn Live is reporting . . . Three Pennsylvania Republicans were part of a surprisingly large bipartisan coalition that voted this past week for a bill to codify same-sex marriage protections in federal law.
Among the 47 Republicans that joined all 220 Democrats in passing the Respect for Marriage Act were U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Bucks County; Dan Meuser, R-Luzerne County; and Scott Perry, R-York County.
The 267-157 vote for the bill, initially seen by some as Democratic messaging in the wake of liberal concerns that court rulings making same-sex marriage the law of the land could be susceptible to reversal by a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court, now has raised the possibility that it could win passage in the U.S. Senate and reach President Joe Biden’s desk for signature.
The bill in question repeals federal law that currently defines marriage as between one man and one woman, and replaces it with provisions that recognize any marriage that is valid under state law.
In addition, if the Supreme Court overturned the 2015 ruling establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, the bill would require any states that decide to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples to still recognize same-sex marriages that have been lawfully performed elsewhere.
The same protections would apply to interracial marriages.
Fitzpatrick’s support for the measure was not a surprise; coming from the Philadelphia suburbs, he has long been one of the most moderate Republicans in the House.
But Meuser and Perry, just last year, had voted against a separate bill that wold have extended federal anti-discrimination protections to cover sexual orientation and gender identity.
Meuser, whose 9th District seat covers all of Lebanon County, said his vote on the same-sex marriage bill was to “affirm the current law and support the rights and freedoms of all Americans. The passage of this legislation reflects current law, which was upheld by a Supreme Court ruling nearly 10 years ago.
“This vote was not difficult for me, as it does not infringe upon anyone’s personal and religious rights,” he said, adding “I will continue to push for restrictions on men entering women’s sports and oppose any attempts by Democrats to infringe on individual and religious freedoms.”
For Perry, whose 10th District seat covers all of Dauphin and large parts of Cumberland and York counties, it appears to have been a tougher vote.
Perry’s office had not responded to questions from PennLive as of publication of this post, but in comments reported by the York Daily Record he characterized his vote as one affirming his philosophy of limited government and protecting the rights of interracial couples.
“Agree or disagree with same-sex marriage, my vote affirmed my long-held belief that Americans who enter into legal agreements deserve to live their lives without the threat that our federal government will dissolve what they’ve built,” Perry told the York newspaper Wednesday.
But by Friday, the Freedom Caucus, a group of the most conservative Republicans in the House which Perry happens to chair, had taken a formal position urging Senate Republicans to oppose the bill. In a follow-up statement to the government news outlet The Hill, Perry said: “I had grave concerns with this bill and the deceitful way in which is was written. I made the best of the two worst choices I had. If the Senate does take it up, they must definitively clarify the language.”
In another House vote on a social issue prompted by the Supreme Court’s June decision to reverse the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights, the House voted 228-195 to pass a bill designed to protect the right to purchase and use contraception without government restriction. Only eight Republicans supported it, and only one of them, Fitzpatrick, was from Pennsylvania.
