Italian Government Approves Bill to Grant Legal Rights to Cohabitants

The Italian government has approved a bill to grant legal rights to unmarried couples, including same-sex partners. The highly controversial move came after months of heated debate in the broad, ruling coalition and fierce opposition from the Vatican. If parliament passes the package, unmarried couples will get greater health and social welfare benefits. But partners will enjoy inheritance rights only if they have been living together for at least nine years. The bill, approved on Thursday evening, does not go as far as the civil unions now protected by law in some other European countries.

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