What does the Respect for Marriage Act do? The bill just passed the senate. What to know.

WASHINGTON – Same-sex marriage rights may soon be federally protected.

The Senate this week passed the Respect for Marriage Act and it will now go on to the House of Representatives.

The bill was drafted after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade earlier this summer. In the ruling, Justice Clarence Thomas expressed interest in reconsidering same-sex and interracial marriage rights.

The Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015 and interracial marriage in 1967.

What is the Respect for Marriage Act?

The Respect for Marriage Act would guarantee federal recognition of any marriage between two people if the union was valid in the state where they married.

The bill would also require states to accept the legitimacy of a valid marriage performed elsewhere but not require any state to issue a marriage license contrary to its own law.

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What was the vote count for the Respect for Marriage Act?

The Senate passed the bill Tuesday with a bipartisan vote – 61 to 36 – with 12 Republicans joining Democrats in support of the bill. Three Senators did not vote: Ben Sasse, R-Neb., Pat Toomey, R-Penn., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.

The twelve Republicans who voted for the bill include:

• Roy Blunt of Mo.

• Richard Burr of N.C.

• Shelley Moore Capito of W.Va.

• Susan Collins of Maine

• Joni Ernst of Iowa

• Cynthia Lummis of Wyo.

• Lisa Murkowski of Alaska

• Rob Portman of Ohio

• Mitt Romney of Utah

• Dan Sullivan of Alaska

• Thom Tillis of N.C.

• Todd C. Young of Ind.

Recap: Senate passes landmark legislation protecting same-sex marriage rights

What’s the next move for the bill?

The bill will now go to the House, where it will likely pass. A vote could take place as early as next Tuesday.

A similar bill was approved earlier this year with nearly 50 Republicans voting in support.

President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday that when Congress fully passes the bill and sends it to his desk, he will “promptly and proudly sign it into law.”

“With today’s bipartisan Senate passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, the United States is on the brink of reaffirming a fundamental truth: love is love, and Americans should have the right to marry the person they love,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday.

Contributing: Ledyard King, Rachel Looker, Sean Rossman and Savannah Kuchar

Reach Rebecca Morin at Twitter @RebeccaMorin_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Respect for Marriage Act passes senate: Discover final vote tally, more