A congresswoman cried telling her colleagues to vote against a same-sex marriage bill

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A GOP congresswoman cried when she spoke out against the Bipartisan Marriage Respect Act on Thursday. Representative Vicki Hartzler of Missouri begged the House of Representatives to vote against the bill. “I hope and pray that my colleagues will find the courage to join me in opposing this misguided and dangerous law,” Hartzler said, tearing up. Something is loading.

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GOP Rep. Vicki Hartzler of Missouri broke down in tears on the floor of the House of Representatives Thursday as she begged her colleagues to vote against a bipartisan bill aimed at protecting same-sex marriage, the Respect for Marriage Act.

“I hope and pray that my colleagues will find the courage to join me in opposing this misguided and dangerous law,” Hartzler said, tearing up.

Hartzler spent the first two minutes of her speech criticizing the bill, claiming that its “sole purpose is to hand the federal government a legal offensive tool to expel believers from the public square and silence anyone who dissents.”

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The Respect for Marriage Act requires states to recognize any marriage performed in another state and repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act that previously defined marriage between a man and a woman.

Hartzler also called the bill “unnecessary,” and said that “Obergefell is not in danger,” referring to the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015 that requires all states to recognize same-sex marriage and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

In Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health in the Supreme Court from 2022, he called on the Supreme Court to revisit several Supreme Court rulings made using the due process clause, which includes the Obergefell ruling.

After his opinion and the Supreme Court’s overturning of the nation’s abortion protections granted in the famous Roe v. Wade case, Democrats worked to enshrine same-sex marriage protections in law.

This isn’t the first time Hartzler has fought against expanding marriage protections—as the Kansas City Star first noted, prior to her time in Congress, Hartzler pushed hard for an amendment to be added to the Missouri Constitution that would define marriage as between a man and a woman.

Hartzler, who has been in Congress since 2011, will not return in 2023 after losing her campaign for an open Senate seat.

Representative Hartzler’s office did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.

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