The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) (also referred to by proponents as the Marriage Protection Amendment) was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would have limited marriage in the United States to unions of one man and one woman. The FMA would also have prevented judicial extension of marriage rights to same-sex or other unmarried heterosexual couples. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires the support of two thirds of each house of Congress, and ratification by three fourths of the states (currently thirty-eight). The last Congressional vote to take place on the proposed Amendment occurred in the United States House of Representatives on July 18, 2006, when the Amendment failed 236 yea to 187 nay votes, falling short of the 290 yea votes required for passage in that body. The Senate has only voted on cloture motions with regard to the proposed Amendment, the last of which was on June 7, 2006 when the motion failed 49 yea to 48 nay votes, falling short of the 60 yea votes required to proceed to consideration of the Amendment and the 67 votes which would be required to pass the amendment.
Read more about Federal Marriage Amendment: Legislative History, Arguments Against The Federal Marriage Amendment, Arguments in Favor of The Federal Marriage Amendment
Other articles related to "federal marriage amendment, marriage, federal marriage, amendment":
... FMA proponents argue that opposite-sex marriage in the United States has been given special legal protection ... has historically been granted only to the unique institution of marriage as the cradle for the family and to legitimize lines of inheritance ... Proponents of FMA argue that same-sex marriage advocates want to disregard federalism and use the judicial system to make same-sex marriage legal nationwide, which only the Federal Marriage ...
... Feminist theory approaches opposite-sex marriage as an institution traditionally rooted in patriarchy that promotes male superiority and power over ... is contrasted with a conception of egalitarian or Peer Marriage in which power and labour are divided equally, and not according to gender roles ... by women influence the power dynamic of a marriage ...
... not want his son to enter into a loveless arranged marriage as he himself had ... George Augustus and Caroline had a largely successful marriage, though he continued to keep mistresses, as was customary for the time ...
... In July 2006, Rep ... Melancon voted in support of the Federal Marriage Amendment ...
... For information about the amendment, see Federal Marriage Amendment ... For arguments for and against same-sex marriage in general, see Same-sex marriage#Controversies ... The Alliance for Marriage’s amendment introduced in 2002 consisted of two clauses ...
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