On Saturday, Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, a conservative organization that promotes “Christ-like” leadership and values, tweeted that passage of the Respect for Marriage Act would threaten the religious freedom. “No matter how the @GOPSenate spins its tail on the yes on the #DisrespectMarriage Act, passing it will threaten #ReligiousLiberty for generations. And a yes will be a complete betrayal of their party platform and base,” he wrote. In his tweet, Plaats also shared a Friday article from The Hill that said the bill will soon reach the Senate and that lawmakers are hoping to reach compromises to get enough Republican support for the potential legislation that would overcome a potential conflict. In 2015, Plaats endorsed Cruz for president, boosting his campaign in the caucus where the senator was competing against Donald Trump for an Iowa lead. “We’re going all out for Sen. Ted Cruz,” Vander Platt said at the time. “Our goal is to unite conservatives around Senator Ted Cruz, and I think you’re starting to see that happening already in the state of Iowa, but I think across the country,” Plaatz added. “…We have long believed that if we are united, we will win. If we are divided, we will repeat 2008 and 2012.” In July, the House voted in favor of the bipartisan bill, which would provide federal protections for same-sex marriage, with 47 Republicans voting in favor of the legislation along with all Democrats. However, 157 Republicans voted against the measure and seven Republicans did not vote. Above, GOP Sen. Ted Cruz leaves the Senate floor after a vote on Capitol Hill Aug. 6 in Washington, D.C. Cruz shared a tweet Saturday that called a proposed bill to protect same-sex marriage a threat. Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images Senators Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, are currently trying to secure support for the bill from 10 Republicans, coming up with some possible amendments that would protect religious freedom in an effort to advance the legislation. for voting. month, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. The Respect for Marriage Act was proposed after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, ending years of women having a federal right to an abortion. When the landmark 1973 decision was overturned, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas said the Court should revisit all “substantial due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.” Decided in 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex marriage is legalized nationwide, while the Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, declaring it unconstitutional to criminalize sodomy and private sexual acts between consenting adults. The Supreme Court also ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965, declaring that married couples have the right to purchase and use contraceptives without government restriction. Cruz echoed Thomas’ remarks, saying the Supreme Court was “clearly wrong” in ruling to legalize same-sex marriage. In a video uploaded to YouTube in July by the Verdict+ podcast, the senator spoke of the “vulnerability” of the Obergefell decision. “Obergefell, like Roe v. Wade, ignored two centuries of our nation’s history,” Cruz said at the time. “Marriage has always been an issue left up to the states. We saw states before Obergefell — some states were moving to allow same-sex marriage, other states were moving to allow civil partnerships. There were different standards that the states adopted.” “This decision was clearly wrong when it was decided,” the senator said, adding that the Court was “excessive.” Newsweek has reached out to Cruz’s media office for comment.
