Polish parliament narrowly defeats civil unions bills
WARSAW, January 28, 2013 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) – In a close vote, Poland ’s lower house of parliament ( Sejm ) has rejected legislation to create same-sex civil partnerships. The Civil Platform bill, supported by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and brought forward by the ruling Civic Platform party, was rejected in the first sitting by 228 to 211. Two other bills that would have recognized same-sex unions, which were brought forward by homosexual MP Robert Biedron of the Palikot Movement party, were also rejected by solid majorities. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk Tusk said in defence of the legislation, “One can’t close one’s eyes to social facts. We have marriages described by the law and guaranteed by the constitution, we have informal couples, and we have homosexual relationships, as well as singles. It seems obvious that the current legal setup doesn’t reflect that those social facts exist.” Taken together, the bills would have granted unmarried, cohabiting couples