United States: after the right to abortion, is homosexual marriage in danger?

Alexis Rey-Millet 4:07 p.m., July 21, 2022

After having revoked the federal right to abortion on June 24, the Supreme Court of the United States could question the right to same-sex marriage.

In any case, this is what a recent opinion written by one of the judges of the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas, suggests.

The latter affirmed his desire to "reconsider" certain judgments, including Obergefell v.

Hodges which guarantees the right to same-sex marriage throughout the United States.

Questioned by Europe 1, Marie-Claire Bonzom, political scientist, journalist and specialist in the United States returns to the probability that such an approach will succeed, and to the political issues that it implies. 

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Same-sex marriage threatened 'on paper'

In his text, Clarence Thomas stated that Obergefell, Griswold and Lawrence v.

Texas were "erroneous" and that the Court had a duty to "correct the error" established in the previous judgments.

Like the revocation of the right to abortion, repealing the Obergefell v.

Hodges would then leave each state free to decide its own same-sex marriage laws.

For Marie-Claire Bonzom, even if such a risk "exists on paper", the opinion written by Clarence Thomas "belongs only to him, and commits only him".

"The Court specifically underlined by the voice of Samuel Alito (republican judge of the Supreme Court) that this judgment should not be seen as a future challenge to other rights, such as same-sex marriage", explains- she.

"As far as abortion is concerned, American politicians had been very cowardly on this file, since they had always left it to the Supreme Court to decide. Congress never 'codified' the right to abortion (as opposed to marriage)".

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A bill to protect marriage for all

The possibility of a revocation of the judgment Obergefell v.

Hodges is nevertheless taken seriously by the entire American political class, since a bill aimed at protecting marriage for all was voted on Tuesday by the House of Representatives.

The

 would repeal a previous law passed in 1996: the

(DOMA), which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The text of the law which has been circulating since 2009 "came out of its box" with the declaration of Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative of judges, explains Marie-Claire Bonzom.

Supported by all 220 elected Democrats and 47 elected Republicans, the 

was therefore transmitted to the Senate, despite the opposition of 157 elected Republicans.

For Marie-Claire Bonzom, the vote of the elected Republicans is representative of the "turnaround" of the American political class on the question of homosexual marriage.

“We are in a very different political climate. We can see how much the American political class has evolved on the issue of same-sex marriage. 26 years ago, the Democrats and the Republicans together took a completely opposite decision by voting for

. "

“Doable, but far from easy”

The chances of the bill making its way to the Senate, however, seem limited.

Out of 50 elected Republicans, 10 would have to vote with the Democrats in favor of the law.

So far, only Senator Susan Collins has spoken out in favor of the 

.

The challenge is therefore to find 9 additional votes among Republican senators.

A "doable, but far from easy" approach, believes Marie-Claire Bonzom.

One thing is certain, such a position promises to be delicate, especially with the approach of the mid-term elections.

Where the religious right remains fundamentally opposed, a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage (71%), including in the Republican ranks.

"They [the senators] will try to take the least risk to ensure their re-election. They will have to weigh the pros and cons and above all relate to the mood of the electorate in their constituency" explains Marie-Claire Bonzom.

A month after the earthquake that was the revocation of the right to abortion, all eyes are therefore riveted on their vote.

It remains to be seen what additional measures Congress will take, or not, in response to the Supreme Court's decisions.