Adoption bill generates strong debate

Majority of 103-8 at stage 1 for bill extending adoption rights to gay and unmarried couples

News, 14 September 2006

MSPs yesterday approved the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill at stage 1 of its parliamentary journey after a vigorous debate.

The bill proposes an extensive reform of adoption law in line with the recommendations of the McInnes report, but the measures which have caused most controversy are the moves to extend the ability to adopt to gay and unmarried couples. At present gay and unmarried people can adopt singly but not jointly. Applications to adopt would still need to be approved by a court.

The Catholic Church has condemned the proposals, while the SNP's Roseanna Cunningham said parenting was so important that introducing another difficulty into the adoption mix was "inconceivable" to her.

The Minister for Education and Young People, Peter Peacock, said the reform of adoption laws would increase the number of children placed in new homes because it would add to the pool of potential adopters.

He said that marriage was still recognised as the most stable background for raising children, but in this day and age there were many different family arrangements in Scotland.

Liberal Democrat MSP Margaret Smith argued that as an openly gay parent of five children, she had found bringing up children as part of a couple easier than doing it by herself.

Claiming to represent the view of the vast majority of people in Scotland, Ms Cunningham said she did not know why overturning tens of thousands of years of nature's design would move society forward.

However, Patrick Harvie (Green) said opposition to the bill was an insult to those same-sex couples who were already parents.

Supporters of the bill won the day by 103 votes to eight, with eight abstentions.