JURIST - Paper Chase: Czech president vetoes same-sex partnership bill

[JURIST] Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus [BBC profile] has vetoed a bill that would provide same-sex partners with access to medical information, property inheritance, and the right to raise children equal to that of married couples, among other things. Klaus' veto was expected [Prague Post report], and the president said Thursday that the veto was an outgrowth of his view of government's role, saying that the bill extends "state interventions into people's lives." Klaus also emphasized that he respects the "importance of the removal of discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation."

The bill, passed by both houses [Radio Prague report] in January, will now return to the Chamber of Deputies where votes from 101 of the house's 200 members could override the veto. Klaus has promised to provide lower house chairman Lubomir Zaoralek [official website in Czech] with a detailed explanation of his reasoning, which will then be released to the media, in hopes that the MPs will consider his arguments. According to a poll taken last October, 30 percent of Czech citizens oppose registered partnerships and 62 percent support them. The Prague Daily Monitor has more.

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