The US Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would protect federal recognition of same-sex marriages, amid fears that a 2015 decision that legalized them nationwide could be overturned by the conservative Supreme Court, Reuters reported.

The new bill obliges the federal government to recognize a marriage if it is legal in the state where it took place.

But the law does not prevent states from banning same-sex marriage if the Supreme Court allows them to do so in a new ruling that overturns its previous ruling seven years ago.

“By passing this bill, the Senate is sending a clear message to every American: no matter who you are or who you love, you too deserve dignity and equal treatment under the law,” said Chuck Schumer, the Democratic speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress.

The bill narrowly passed, 61 to 36, with 12 Republicans and 49 Democrats voting in favor of the bill. But in the event of a tie, the deciding vote would go to Vice President Kamala Harris, as the Republican Party failed to regain control of the Senate in early November elections.

Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and two Republican lawmakers were absent from the vote.

Similar, though not exactly identical, legislation passed the House earlier this year with the support of 47 elected Republicans and the votes of all Democrats.

The decision to repeal abortion protections raised concerns about the recognition of same-sex marriage

The version of the bill that has now passed the Senate will need approval from the House of Representatives before it can be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

It is expected to be debated by congressmen in the lower house of the legislature in Washington next week.

The bills were introduced in Congress after the conservative-dominated Supreme Court struck down federal abortion protections in June, overturning 50 years of precedent.

The decision, handed down a few months ago by the US constitutional judges, shocked a part of the American public opinion, becoming the first time in history that the Supreme Court took away a right or freedom that it itself recognized.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the high court could overturn other decisions that protect civil liberties, such as the 2015 ruling on same-sex marriage.

According to the US Bureau of Statistics, about 568,000 same-sex couples are married in the United States.