Elizabeth Jo

Well, in 2022, the Supreme Court decided to unrecognize the constitutionally protected right to an abortion in Dobbs versus Jackson Women's Health Organization.

And that case overturned the right that was first recognized in Roe in 1973.

And even though abortion might seem to be pretty distinct from marriage, and of course it is a different topic,

it was not a different topic for Justice Thomas.

Justice Thomas joined the majority opinion in the Dobbs case, but he also wrote a separate opinion because he had more to say.

And essentially his more to say was, look, if we're overturning the right to an abortion, which I think is a good idea, that's his thinking, we might also reconsider some rights based on the same interpretation that the court issues today.

And he calls out specifically Obergefell versus Hodges.

Like, maybe we should think about overturning that case.

So his opinion set off alarms, as you can imagine.

And so the idea here is, look, if Justice Thomas can just convince four other justices that he's right, then presumably that right might be in question.

Well, in 2022, this was the Biden administration.

President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, or RFMA.

So RFMA formally repeals the Defense of Marriage Act from 1996, right?

But it also goes further.

One section of RFMA, this is the federal law, requires all states to give what the law calls full faith and credit to marriages, including same-sex marriages, which it identifies specifically, if they are lawfully performed within a state.

So RFMA doesn't require a state to license same-sex marriages.

In other words, it doesn't require a state that hadn't done that before to do it.

But as long as there is one state in the United States that does license same-sex marriages, the effect of RFMA, this federal law, means that those marriages should be respected in the other 49.

And remember, marriage as a legal idea is really important.

Of course, it's important symbolically, but it carries all kinds of effects of,