US Senator, and former Presidential candidate, Ted Cruz has argued that the US Supreme Court made the wrong decision when it voted in 2015 to allow same-sex marriage across the USA.
Cruz argues that the ruling should be overturned, echoing comments made by US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas relating to the ruling that overturned the Roe vs Wade ruling that had allowed abortion services to be available.
Cruz made his statement in a video uploaded to YouTube arguing that the Obergefell vs Hodges case that ruled that it was unconstitutional to prevent same-sex couples from getting married may also be overturned.
“Obergefell, like Roe versus Wade, it ignored two centuries of our nation’s history. Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states.” Senator Cruz said
“We saw states before Obergefell that were moving, some states were moving to allow gay marriage, others states were moving to allow civil partnerships, there were different standards that the states were adopting, and had the court not ruled in Obergefell the democratic process would have continued to operate, in that if you believed that gay marriage was a good idea – the way the constitution was set up for you to advance that position is to convince your fellow citizens.
“If you succeeded in convincing your fellow citizens then your state would have changed the laws to reflect those views. In Obergefell the court said ‘No, we know better than you guys do, and now every state must sanction and permit gay marriage.'”
The Republican senator said the court had made an error.
“I think that decision was clearly wrong when it was decided, it was the court overreaching.” Cruz said.
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the landmark case, has shared his concern that the law might be overturned.
Speaking to NPR’s All Things Considered program Obergefell said the overturn of Roe vs Wade was a dark day for rights in America.
“To have the highest court in the land for the first time ever take back a right that it had previously affirmed and to know that women in our nation can now no longer control decisions about their own body because of government overreach, government intrusion.
“And then to read that concurring opinion by Clarence Thomas just made me even more concerned about the future of civil rights in our nation and especially for the LGBTQ+ community, given the cases that he mentioned, in addition to the continued attacks on women’s rights.” Obergefell said.
Obergefell said that while he was relieved that the recent decision was worded in a way that made it clear it was specifically about abortion, and not other rights. He still held concerns about what the Supreme Court’s next move might be.
OIP Staff
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