Costa Rican lawmakers seem to have accidentally approved same-sex unions.

According to Costa Rican newspaper La Nación, a project labeled to ‘reinforce the quality of life in the country’s youth’ also contained clauses about changing the Family Code to include same-sex unions.

The bill that 45 MPs approved last night challenges Article 242 of the Family Code, which only recognizes legal partnerships as between a man and a woman.

The new text in the Law of Young People recognizes ‘the right to recognition without discrimination contrary to human dignity, social and economic effects of domestic partnerships that constitute publicly, notoriously unique and stable, with legal capacity for marriage for more than three years’. The interpretation of this language has been identified as an initial approval of same-sex unions.

Manrique Oviedo, of the Citizen Action Party (PAC) urged Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla to veto the bill in order to ensure that same-sex unions are not legalized. Oviedo, who has previously opposed same-sex unions based on his evangelical beliefs, himself voted for the bill last night.

Oviedo said last night that he felt deceived because he was unaware of the bill’s wording. Deputy Justo Orozco said the case must be looked at carefully because ‘you can’t give certain rights to people who don’t deserve them’.

Though previous projects that pushed for the approval of same-sex unions have been presented, conservative politicians have managed to block them before coming to fruition.

Politician José María Villalta told La Nación that the approved bill establishes the right to the recognition of same-sex unions ‘without discrimination contrary to human dignity’.

‘This opens the door for recognizing the rights of same-sex unions,’ said Villalta.

Villalta also told La Nación that ‘politicians approve projects without reading them through’.

