The vote today was 48-50, a dozen votes short of the 60 needed to keep alive the measure. The measure had the support of the U.S. bishops’ conference.
Supporters of the amendment vowed to renew their efforts.
The amendment provides that marriage within the United States «shall consist only of a man and a woman.» A second sentence said that neither the federal nor any state constitution «shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.»
