The bill on civil unions
currently before the Senate must be approved "without
re-discussing points that are already the fruit of mediation", a
group of MPs formerly belonging to the small left-wing party
Sinistra Ecologia Libertà (SEL) and now members of Premier
Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party (PD) said Thursday.
"The extension of stepchild adoption, which is already
contemplated for married heterosexual couples, would at last
regulate a de facto situation that already exists but without
any form of protection, by granting a child born of a same-sex
couple the right to affectional continuity with the second
parent," the MPS wrote in reference to the controversial norm
introducing the possibility for one partner in a same-sex
relationship to adopt the other partner's biological child.
Removing stepchild adoption from the bill or replacing it
with some form of 'reinforced' foster care as proposed by
opponents of the measure would only "make growing up all the
more precarious for the child", they added.
Meanwhile lawyers on Thursday called for parliament to
amend the bill so that not only notaries would be able to
stipulate and register a civil union.
This faculty should be extended to lawyers, the general
secterary of the National Forensic Association Luigi Pansini
said.
"Not only do lawyers have an irreplaceable role in
protecting the rights of every citizen, but they also 'guard'
the value of equality before the law," Pansini said.
"From a professional point of view lawyers unboubtedly have
all the skills needed to accompany couples who decide to
legalise their co-habitation," he concluded.
Discussion of the bill has been delayed by two days and is
now due to hit the Senate floor on January 28.
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