CAIRO — A controversial bill in Egypt that would make the penalties for adultery the same for men and women faces many hurdles. Proposed by Margaret Azer, a Copt and leader of the Support Egypt coalition, the bill has aroused strong opposition among members of the parliament's Legislation and Religion committees.

The Egyptian penal code states that a wife who is shown to have committed adultery must serve two years in prison. An adulterous husband, however, receives only six months, and then only if he commits adultery in the house he shares with his wife. Otherwise, there is no punishment for him.

According to Qanun Nashaz (Unfair Law), a campaign by Nazra for Feminist Studies, the code also states that a husband who kills his wife and her partner in flagrante delicto, in the act of sex, shall receive a lenient sentence of only 24 hours in detention. A wife who commits the same offense faces a charge of willful murder, which means she would most likely receive a sentence of hard labor or life.

Members of the Legislation and Religion committees have rejected the bill on various grounds. Omar Hamroush, the secretary of the religion committee, described the proposed legislation as “contradicting Sharia.”