In February 2019, a group of conservative deputies introduced a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. According to the deputies, the initiative was supported by 150,000 citizens. The bill sought to amend Article 52 of the Constitution from the current text: "Marriage is the essential basis of the family and rests on the equal rights of the spouses" to "Marriage is the union of a man and a woman, rests on the equal rights of the spouses, and is the essential basis of the family." The launch of the initiative was attended by the New Republic (PNR) bloc, Independent Deputy Erick Rodríguez Steller, Patricia Villegas Álvarez from the National Integration Party (PIN), Shirley Díaz Mejías from the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), and a faction of the Social Christian Republican Party (PRSC). Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority in the Legislative Assembly. The proposal was not approved.