Center-right politicians on Wednesday bristled at the idea of the government's civil unions bill being put to a vote in the Senate without further debate.
Late on Tuesday, Senator Monica Cirinnà from Premier Matteo Renzi's center-left Democratic Party (PD) introduced a new version of the bill that took the original text approved by the Senate justice committee in March, but with some changes that appeased the Catholic wing of the PD - namely, it no longer makes specific references to existing laws that cover heterosexual marriage.
However the new bill still provides "full recognition of same-sex couples via a new juridical institution, called the civil union", Cirinnà said.
It still retains key measures allowing gay partners in a civil union to adopt their spouse's children - known as stepchild adoption - and for widows to receive their deceased partner's pensions and to inherit property, she said.
The bill also lays out the rights and duties of partners in a civil union, such as the duty of mutual assistance and of contributing to common needs.
Other laws, regulations, and collective bargaining contracts that refer to heterosexual marriage "will be applicable in the same way to the parties in a civil union".
"There can be no turning back the clock on the recognition of social rights," Cirinnà warned.
However, the traditionally Catholic center right is still not happy with the bill because it recognizes the rights of gays in committed relationships to be parents. This, they argue, will inevitably usher in the legalization of surrogate motherhood, which is illegal in Italy and which the Catholic Church condemns as a sin.
"The divisive roadblock remains of gay parenting rights and the legitimization of surrogate motherhood, which we would prosecute as a universal crime," said Senator Maurizio Sacconi from the New Center Right (NCD) party, a junior member of the ruling coalition along with Renzi's PD.
"The latter is the most divisive element, and its removal is the premise for any negotiation".
"The new version of the Cirinnà bill is an unacceptable stretch, whose meaning I don't understand," said Popular Area (AP) caucus whip Lower House MP Maurizio Lupi, a former transport minister who is also from the NCD.
The AP caucus is made up of the NCD and the small centrist UDC party.
"Introducing tensions into the majority coalition by continuously raising the bar in a divisive way is not good for the government or the country".
"I see an inappropriate and ill-timed acceleration on civil unions," said Senator and AP caucus whip Renato Schifani.
"I hope this new proposal will be the subject of debate in the proper parliamentary venues". Cirinnà, however, was undeterred.
"Common law couples, both hetero and homosexual, will soon see all the rights granted them by Italian and European law written down in black and white," she said. "Controversy doesn't frighten us. We are called on to answer to citizens,to the Constitutional Court and to European courts, which have condemned Italy too many times".
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