What the Respect for Marriage Act does and doesn't do

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% : In that case, same-sex marriage licenses may be available in some states, but not others.
50% : That means it does not require states to perform same-sex and interracial marriages.
50% : What RFMA does do is require the federal government and all states to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages if they were legally performed in the past or are performed in the future in places where they are still legal, including other states.
49% : Every state is required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex and interracial couples according to the 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges and the 1967 ruling in Loving v. Virginia.
48% : Here's what the Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA) does and doesn't do:A constitutional right to same-sex and interracial marriage is currently guaranteed only by Supreme Court precedent.
47% : States would be free to deny marriage licenses to same-sex or interracial couples if the Supreme Court precedents were overruled.
45% : The legislation does not guarantee a national right to same-sex marriage.
45% : RFMA does not enshrine a right to same-sex or interracial marriage nationwide.
45% : Prior to Obergefell, 32 states prohibited or likely prohibited same-sex marriages, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
44% : While the law will guarantee federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages, it was passed through Congress essentially as a compromise and as a backstop in case the Supreme Court overruled its prior rulings, which are currently the legal basis for such rights.
42% : RFMA also offers explicit protections for religious groups with moral objections to same-sex or interracial marriages: They are not required to provide goods or services to the marriages they object to and their tax-exempt status cannot be rescinded for refusing to perform or respect a marriage.
39% : (Justice Clarence Thomas, in his June concurring opinion on abortion, specifically pointed to Obergefell as having been wrongly decided.)

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