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Portuguese parliament overturns presidential veto on same-sex adoption law

Xinhua, February 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

The left-winged majority in Portuguese Parliament approved Wednesday the same-sex adoption bill which was vetoed by President Anibal Cavaco Silva last month.

The bill for same-sex couples to adopt a child was approved with 137 votes from all of the left-winged parties and some from opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD).

The changes on the abortion law was approved with 119 votes from all left-wing parties and Paula Teixeira da Cruz, former minister of justice, and 97 from PSD and CDS against.

The two bills had been approved by Parliament on Dec. 18, but Cavaco Silva vetoed them on Jan. 25. The president said that adoption by same-sex couples had not been preceded by sufficient public debates and that it had yet to be proved that the legal changes "promote the child's wellbeing."

In the case of abortion, Cavaco Silva argued that the bill would reduce the rights to obtain information by a woman who decides whether to terminate a pregnancy.

Under Portugal's constitution, if an absolute majority in the 230-seat parliament vote to approve a bill that has been vetoed, the president is obliged to sign it into law within eight days. Enditem