Among the eight bills relating to the adoption process that were up for vote, five were to increase to 18 years the maximum age up to which a child can be adopted, with proposals from the Bloco de Esquerda (BE), Communist Party Portuguese (PCP), People-Animals-Nature (PAN), Free and Liberal Initiative (IL) party.
Of these five, the BE, PCP, PAN and IL bills were unanimously approved and are now being discussed in the specialty at the Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedom and Guarantees commission.
The Livre bill, which, in addition to addressing the age issue, advocates lowering the minimum age of those who can adopt to 25, that these people can live in a de facto union and that the child can give consent to the adoption from the age of 8, among other matters, was approved with votes in favour of the Socialist Party (PS) and Liberal Initiative (IL), having also been discussed by the commission.
A second bill from the PCP, for the resumption of reception measures and empowerment program for children and young people in danger, and which proposes that young people over 18 years old, with promotion and protection measures, can re-enter the system in cases in which they ask to leave and later regret it, was approved with votes in favor of almost all parties, with the exception of Chega, which abstained, and also went down to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedom and Guarantees.
The Chega bill was the only one rejected, with votes against by the PS and the Liberal Initiative, and proposed amendments to the Civil Code, the Legal Framework for the Adoption Process and the Labor Code, with the aim of reducing the number of institutionalized children through a speedy adoption process.
A draft PAN resolution was also voted on, which recommends the Government adopt integrated and swift policies to promote adoption, which was also unanimously approved and went down to committee.