SCOTUS gay marriage ruling was ‘clearly wrong’

Sen. Ted Cruz argued that the US Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage was “clearly wrong” — while discussing the possibility of its reversal.

“So look, Obergefell, like Roe v. Wade, ignored two centuries of our nation’s history,” the Texas Republican said on his show, “Verdict with Ted Cruz.” “Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states.” 

Cruz was referencing Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark decision that guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015.

Before the Supreme Court made that decision, “some states were moving to allow gay marriage, other states were moving to allow civil partnerships,” Cruz said. “They were different standards that the states were adopting.”

The senator’s comments followed the high court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in late June, a ruling that upheld a Mississippi law banning the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy – and left the issue up to each of the 50 states.

Justice Clarence Thomas, in his opinion concurring with the decision to reverse Roe, called for the court to re-examine and potentially overturn rulings that protect gay marriage and access to birth control.

“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” he wrote.

Thomas was referring to a 1965 ruling, Griswold v. Connecticut, that allowed married couples to access birth control and a 2003 ruling, Lawrence v. Texas, that banned states from outlawing consensual gay sex.

Justice Samuel Alito, however, wrote in the majority opinion overturning Roe that “we emphasize that our decision concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh added: “Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”

Still, Cruz said the decision to legalize gay marriage was “overreaching and “was clearly wrong when it was decided.”

“The Court said: ‘No we know better than you, and now every state must sanction and permit gay marriage.’”