Anti-gay union MPs call for conscience vote (South Africa)

[davidinalameda]

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=6&art_id=vn20060910084705262C737048

ANC MPs opposed to the contentious same-sex marriage bill have called for a "conscience vote", a call last made in the ruling party more than a decade ago over an equally divisive issue.

When the ANC adopted the Termination of Pregnancy Bill in 1996 it did not allow its MPs a conscience vote, despite a 1995 position paper written by Reverend Frank Chikane and two others, arguing for one.

At the time the party argued that the abortion law was not a moral, but a health issue and expected all its MPs to vote in line with the party's position on the matter.