Senator Monica Cirinnà, the
Democratic Party's rapporteur on civil unions, said Friday that
she respectfully disagreed with Italian bishops' opposition to a
bill recognising civil unions including same-sex ones.
"I respect the positions of the (bishops), but I deal with
laws and rights, rather than crimes. And not sins," she said.
Earlier, the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI)
Secretary-General Msgr Nunzio Galantino said the bill
aimed to "make an ideological stretch, reducing objectively
different realities to one".
The Senate's justice committee on Thursday approved the
bill which will now go through both houses of parliament.
The measure, drafted by Cirinnà, recognizes key rights for
heterosexual and same-sex couples such as 'stepchild adoption',
or the adoption of the biological child of one of the two
partners in a civil union.
The bill also calls for same sex-civil unions to be
registered by municipalities and institutes a series of
juridical rights and duties including inheritance protection,
health assistance and a reversibility clause for pensions.
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