A bill that would repeal Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban passed the state House of Representatives Tuesday on a bipartisan vote, with proponents saying the change was necessary to protect marriage equality if federal case law was overturned.

The measure passed 133-to-68 in the final vote, with all but one member of the Democratic majority and 32 Republicans in support. The bill now heads to the GOP-controlled state Senate.

The bill would eliminate a clause in state law that requires marriage to be “between one man and one woman,” and declaring that same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions will not be honored in Pennsylvania.

That statute is unenforceable, having been superseded by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which rendered same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional.

Further, in 2022, Congress passed — and President Joe Biden signed — a law prohibiting states from refusing to recognize marriages from other states based on the sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin of the married couple.

The bill that passed the House on Tuesday would also change the legal definition of marriage to be “a civil contract between two individuals,” as opposed to an exclusively heterosexual arrangement.

Proponents argued that the change is necessary to ensure that — regardless of one’s personal feelings about same-sex relationships — Pennsylvania upholds the principle of equal legal protections.

“I don’t need your respect, I don’t need your acceptance, I don’t need you to understand my relationship or for it to line up with what is taught in your particular faith,” said Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, who himself is in a same-sex marriage.

“What this bill is about is our laws accepting established jurisprudence,” said Kenyatta, the bill’s prime sponsor.

In pitching the idea earlier this year, Kenyatta had voiced concern over the recent suggestion by conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that — in light of the court’s ruling overturning federal abortion rights — the court should revisit similar rulings on contraception and the Obergefell same-sex marriage precedent.

If Obergefell were to be overturned, Pennsylvania would be one of about two dozen states that would revert to laws invalidating same-sex marriages performed in-state, according to a Poynter Institute analysis.

“Throughout this commonwealth there are loving couples who are raising families together who don’t deserve to have their family torn apart because a court decision is overturned,” said Rep. Jessica Benham, D-Allegheny County.

Those who have opposed Kenyatta’s measure have said the state should have a specific interest in heterosexual marriage, although for differing reasons. During a committee meeting last month, Rep. Paul Schemel, R-Franklin County, argued that this was necessary to promote procreation and the raising of children by their biological parents.

Rep. Stephanie Borowicz, R-Clinton County, couched her opposition Tuesday in specifically religious terms, describing marriage as “a sacred covenant institution created by god between a man and a woman” and noting that Democratic leaders — such as Barack Obama and Joe Biden — had opposed same-sex marriage early in their careers.

Approval of same-sex marriages by the American public has risen steadily over nearly three decades, according to polling from Gallup, but did not exceed the 50% mark until 2011. Currently, around 70% of Americans believe same-sex couples should have the same marriage rights as others, according to polling averages.

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