During his leadership campaign in 2001, Duncan Smith changed his stance from opposing repeal of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 to supporting repeal. In 2003, his decision to compromise on the repeal of Section 28 was described as "illogical" and "messy" by other Conservative MPs. As leader, he imposed a three-line whip on a House of Lords amendment to the Adoption and Children Act 2002 that would have restricted adoption to married couples, thus ruling out unmarried heterosexual couples and gay couples. The amendment was rejected by 344 to 145, with eight Conservative MPs rebelling.