DAILY CATHOLIC     WEDNESDAY     October 14, 1998     vol. 9, no. 201

NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

To print out entire text of Today's issue, go to SECTION ONE and SECTION TWO

FRANCE'S JOSPIN SAYS COUPLES' RIGHTS BILL WILL BE LAW

          PARIS (CWNews.com) - France's Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said on Monday that the controversial bill to give the same legal rights to unmarried couples that married couples now enjoy will be passed despite a setback in the National Assembly last week.

          Jospin said the ruling Socialist Party will make sure that all of its deputies are present when the "civil solidarity pact" (PACS) bill is resubmitted next month. The conservative opposition took advantage of the absence of many Socialist deputies when the bill was presented last Friday and quickly pushed through a resolution to knock it off the agenda. "This time, I think a majority to pass the bill will be guaranteed. We will have lost only a few weeks," Jospin said.

          The controversial bill has been decried by opposition parties and the Catholic Church who fear it will be disrupt the fabric of society. Under the proposed law, unmarried heterosexual or homosexual couples will be able to register with the government and receive the right to file joint tax returns, receive social welfare payments, and inherit common property. The current version does not allow the couples to adopt children.


Articles provided through Catholic World News Service.
CWN is not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provides this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

October 14, 1998       volume 9, no. 201
NEWS & VIEWS

DAILY CATHOLIC

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