SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s government is supporting an effort to overturn a ban on gay adoption in the U.S. island territory.

Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court narrowly voted in February to uphold an island law banning adoptions by same-sex parents.

The ruling came in the case of an unidentified woman who has sought for the last eight years to adopt a 12-year-old girl who her partner of more than 20 years had through in vitro fertilization.

The woman at the heart of the case has asked the court to reconsider that decision.

Island Attorney General Margarita Mercado has now filed a motion in support of reconsideration. Mercado said the government of Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla favors eliminating unequal treatment based on gender or sexual orientation.

The woman’s attorney, Nora Roberts, welcomed the motion Tuesday. It remains uncertain if the court will revisit its 5-4 ruling.

Lawmakers in Puerto Rico have been considering a number of proposals to extend more rights to gays and lesbians.

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