Call to Action: Contact Your U.S. Senator to Oppose Dangerous ‘Respect for Marriage Act’

Your help is urgently needed to stop the dangerous and deceptively titled “Respect for Marriage Act.” It should be called the “Codify the Radical Redefinition of Marriage and Family Act.” Also known by its bill number, H.R. 8404, it just passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is headed for a quick vote – maybe even this week – in the U.S. Senate.

The bill is a trojan horse designed to undermine families, religious organizations and states that desire to protect marriage and religious faith. The Act is an assault on religious freedom and free speech.

Please call or email your U.S. senators and respectfully request that they oppose the bill, H.R. 8404, which attempts to enshrine same-sex marriage into federal law, disrespecting the wishes of millions of Christians and pro-family Americans who view marriage as a God-ordained union of one man and one woman and simply want to live their lives consistent with their deeply held beliefs.

Supporters of the bill claim that H.R. 8404 merely “codifies” the 2015 Obergefell same-sex marriage decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. But that’s a smokescreen for the bill’s real purposes, which threaten religious people, businesses, and organizations with costly, harassing lawsuits merely for practicing their faith.

Here’s a sample of what H.R. 8404 could do if it becomes law:

• The IRS could rely on it to strip nonprofit organizations of their tax-exempt status if they adhere to their belief that marriage is between a man and a woman.
• It would require the federal government to recognize any state’s definition of marriage, no matter how far-fetched. Some examples include plural marriages, polyamory, time-bound marriages, marriages involving a minor or relative, or any new definition a state may adopt. Such recognition would affect a myriad of federal laws and policies regarding marriage, its benefits, and parental rights.
• It would deputize activist groups to sue religious individuals, organizations and businesses with sincerely held religious beliefs that marriage is between one man and one woman. This could include:
  • Faith-based foster care providers
  • Religious social service organizations
  • Religious organizations and businesses that contract with the federal government to provide services
  • Any other persons or organizations that act “under color of state law”

Children deserve a married mom and dad, and studies show they are better off in such homes by every measure. H.R. 8404 violates the duty society has to our children, contributes to the breakdown of our nation’s families, and hands power to activists to go after people of faith.

A vote in the Senate could occur at any time. It is especially important to contact Republican senators to request that they stand up for marriage and defeat this dangerous bill.

To contact your senator, here are several options:

• If you know who your senators are, you can call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be transferred to their office so that you can speak to one of the senator’s staff members.
• If you don’t know who your senators are, go here and plug in your state to find their names and phone numbers.
• If you want to use a senator’s email or constituent website form to send your message, go here.

If you call, you will be connected to a staff person for your senator. Please be polite and simply ask them to relay the message that you want your senator to vote “NO” on H.R. 8404.

This is URGENT. Please contact your senators TODAY.

Photo from Shutterstock.