SANTIAGO – The Chilean government presents new changes to the country’s adoption laws, aiming to speed up the process in order to guarantee the health of the children. President Piñera proposes the possibility of homoparental adoption.
On May 2018 President Piñera announced modifications of the adoption law set by him during his first presidential term. Chile’s adoption law was created in 1999, and the proposed changes have sparked political debate within Chile Vamos, the political party of President Piñera.
The substitution of the law includes that people who have committed crimes are forbidden to adopt children. Besides there will be an objective point of view in which the only discrimination in terms of adoption will be against violent or alcoholic people. Among the most notable changes is the decrease in processing time and the possibility for homosexual couples to adopt. Under the new law, the maximum duration for the adoption process will be three months.
“The aim is to create a new and modern law for adoption in our country that reduces the amount of time that the whole process takes,” President Pinera said. “Besides, we want to improve the criteria and standards used for selecting the appropriated adoptive family for our children.”
The decision about the project of law is expected to be released during the midterm of June. the resolution has been already introduced in the parliament this week. Related to that the Ministry the President`s spokeswoman Cecilia Pérez told CNN: “the indication of the new modification of law will be presented this week. The target is to end the bureaucracy that avoid children to get back their right to have a home. the main subject is to protect children”
Editor-In-Chief Boris van der Spek is the founder of Chile Today.