DAILY CATHOLIC WEDNESDAY October 14, 1998 vol. 9, no. 201
NEWS & VIEWS |
FRANCE'S JOSPIN SAYS COUPLES' RIGHTS BILL WILL BE LAWPARIS (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.
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Articles provided through Catholic World News Service. |
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