Federal Marriage Amendment


The United States Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would define marriage in the United States as a union of one man and one woman. The FMA also would prevent judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples, as well as preventing people from having multiple spouses. The most recent vote on the proposed amendment took place in the Senate on June 7, 2006. The amendment failed to pass; of the 60 votes required to invoke the cloture motion, 49 senators voted for putting the amendment to vote and 48 voted against. When proposing constitutional amendments, two-thirds of each house must pass the proposal.