Colombia’s Constitutional Court began discussions Wednesday on whether to grant same-sex couples adoption rights, reported local media.
The legal debate was inaugurated nine months after a Colombian court ruled homosexual couples were a type of family in the same way as heterosexual couples.
One Constitutional Court magistrate, Juan Carlos Henao, has said he considers same-sex adoption viable based on previous court rulings on gay rights.
But a vote is required to pass the bill and there is reportedly division within the panel of judges residing over the case, according to newspaper El Tiempo.
Other Constitutional Court judges consider it necessary to wait for the Colombian Congress to pass a law authorizing gay marriage before they can make a decision on adoption. The magistrates have asserted that the rights of same-sex couples cannot conflict with the those of children, and that under the current constitution the protection of minors takes precedence.
This month a Colombian court granted homosexual couples the same inheritance rights as heterosexuals.
