The two draft bills had been vetoed and sent back to parliament by the president on January 25 with Cavaco Silva then issuing a message stating that same sex couples adopting had not been subject to a sufficiently broad public debate and that it still remained to be “proven” whether the proposed legal changes would “foster the wellbeing of children.”

However, the veto and its explanation were overturned by parliament on February 10th by a majority vote in favour and therefore leaving Cavaco Silva with no constitutional alternative other than signing them into effect within eight days.

At the end of the aforementioned vote, Parliamentary President Ferro Rodrigues said that the changes made to the abortion law had gone through with 119 votes in favour and 97 against whilst the same sex adoption bill had received 137 votes in favour, 73 against along with eight abstentions.