Thursday, October 17, 2002

A story released today by CNSNews.com reports that Britain's upper house has voted against legislation that would allow unmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples to adopt children, but Prime Minister Tony Blair's administration will attempt to push the bill ahead anyway.

The House of Lords voted 196-162 late Wednesday to keep adoption rights in Britain limited to married couples and individuals.

The bill to overhaul U.K. adoption laws will now go back to the House of Commons, which supported giving unmarried couples adoption rights by a large margin in a vote earlier this year.

The Commons can overrule the Lords by repeatedly approving legislation, and Blair's administration indicated Thursday that the bill would be pushed through.

The upper house vote came after hours of debate Wednesday. Opposition was led by Conservative Party peer Lady O'Cathain, but 20 Labor Party lords also opposed adoption by unmarried couples along with 48 "crossbench" or non-aligned legislators.

"Perhaps the thing I object to most, if this bill were to go through now as it is, is that for the purposes of adoption the law would place marriage, co-habitation and same-sex partnerships on a platform of legal equivalence," said Conservative health spokesman Lord Earl Howe.

Conservative peer Lord Elton said that cohabiting couples are less stable than married couples.

"Cohabiting couples are six more times likely to split up than married couples," he said. "Why should Parliament consciously and deliberately allow some of our most vulnerable children to be adopted by couples whose relationships are more likely to fall apart than married couples?"

Opposition to the bill was rallied by Christian and family groups, including the Christian Institute, which issued an "adoption card" in advance of the vote.

The card states: "In the event of my death I do not want my children to be adopted by homosexuals."

Adoption charities and activist groups, on the other hand, supported extending eligibility to unmarried couples.

"We're extremely disappointed that the Lords have made a decision that will limit the choice of families for children who need to be adopted," said Felicity Collier, chief executive of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering.