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Rio Negro Province Grants Equal Rights to Same Sex Couples Advanced Mental Health and Reproductive Rights Legislation
On December 17 the Rio Negro Province Legislature passed a law granting same sex couples the same rights enjoyed at state levels by de-facto unions, except the right to marry and to adopt children. Unlike the Buenos Aires city ordinance, civil unions in Rio Negro will not be registered separately from (heterosexual) de-facto unions. Both will be registered at the same offices. In order to register its union, a couple (opposite sexes or same sex) must be 18 or older and present two witnesses who can prove that they have resided together for at least two years. Registered couples can access state housing plans and enjoy social benefits, sick or bereavement leave if they are state employees, and may have visitation rights in public hospitals. The proposal had been submitted in June, 2001 and was passed in general terms on December 18. The State Legislature will meet soon to discuss some details about the project. Both ruling and opposition parties declared themselves in support of the proposal before its debate in the State Legislature; the Catholic Church in the province did not voice a negative opinion. Rio Negro has very advanced legislation that is unique to Argentina in areas such as mental health (patients are not hospitalized but cared for by the communities in which they live) and reproductive health (public hospitals provide free contraception and sterilization procedures upon request, both for women and men). The City of Buenos Aires In order to enter into a Civil Union, both parties must be 21 or older, with legal addresses in Buenos Aires City for at least a year; if they have no children, they must prove that they have lived together for at least two years (by presenting two to five witnesses). Benefits include social security, relocation for family reasons, sick and bereavement leave for city state employees, and access to pensions, housing loans and other benefits granted by the city government. Those entering a civil union may draft contracts to regulate how their assets are to be divided in case the union is dissolved, as well as other aspects of their personal and financial relationship. Civil unions are dissolved by mutual agreement, by the will of one of the members, or if one of them gets married or dies. The Register has the capacity to issue a certificate proving that a civil union has been formed and the same in the case of its dissolution. The proposal was introduced in August 2001 and studied by four of the Legislative Commissions - Budget, Constitutional Affairs, General Legislation and Human Rights. It is estimated that the law will enter into force on April 2003, even though activists predict that proposals declaring it unconstitutional will be submitted in February (the Legislature is closed during January). Unlike the case of Rio Negro, opposition by the local Catholic Church was fierce in Buenos Aires. |
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Buenos Aires, Argentina-In mid-December the City Legislature here passed a civil unions proposal creating a Civil Union Register--open to couples without gender restrictions. The proposal grants registered couples the same rights that the city grants to spouses and family members.
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