The U.S. Senate blocked a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage as a Republican-led election-year drive failed to clear a procedural hurdle. The Senate fell 11 votes short of mustering the 60 needed to shut off debate and force the proposal to a final roll call. Supporters said they took some solace from the fact that the measure got a public airing and picked up 49 votes, one more than the number of senators who backed it in a similar procedural test in 2004. Seven Republicans voted to kill the amendment. The four others were Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Susan Collins of Maine, John McCain of Arizona, Olympia Snowe of Maine and John Sununu of New Hampshire. The defeat came despite daily appeals for passage from Bush, whose standing is troubled by sagging poll numbers and a dissatisfied conservative base. The Vatican also added muscle to the argument Tuesday, naming gay marriage as one of the factors threatening the traditional family as never before. Democrats said the debate was a divisive political ploy. Forty-five of the 50 states have acted to define traditional marriage in ways that would ban same-sex marriage, 19 states with constitutional amendments and 26 states with statutes. A majority of Americans define marriage as a union of a man and a woman, as the proposed amendment does, according to a poll out this week by ABC News. But an equal majority opposes amending the Constitution on this issue, the poll found. The amendment would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex marriages. To become ratified, it would need two-thirds support in the Senate and House, and then would have to be ratified by at least 38 state legislatures. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, the only Democratic senator who supports the amendment, voted “yes.” The only other Democrat to vote in favor of moving forward with an up-or-down vote Wednesday, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, opposes the amendment itself. Three senators did not vote: Democrats Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and John Rockefeller of West Virginia, and Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska
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Tags: United States, US Senate, US Constitution, Bush
Society should begin to respect the rights of individuals, that`s when we will say we are practising true democracy!