Plans to legalise gay marriage in
England and Wales will proceed in Parliament despite opposition from some MPs
after the government reached agreement with Labour on the issue.
Conservative critics had tabled a proposal to let heterosexual couples enter into civil partnerships, if gay couples were allowed to get married.
Supporters warned that this could delay the bill or derail it entirely.
Ministers will now back Labour plans to consult on changing civil partnerships.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said ministers will claim that the government was always clear that it was open to an immediate review on their future status but Labour is likely to claim it has saved the gay marriage bill.
MPs gave their support in principle to gay marriage in February but are now discussing proposed amendments amid calls from some Conservatives for the government to focus on other priorities.
The bill is being debated over two days, with its third reading - the final hurdle in the Commons - on Tuesday. If approved, it will go to the House of Lords on Wednesday, where it is expected to face further opposition.
David Cameron has said equal marriage would help build a stronger and fairer society but nearly half of all Tories voted against it in February and many party activists remain deeply opposed to it in principle.
The bill's fresh scrutiny by MPs comes amid other divisions within the Conservative Party on Europe and attitudes towards the party's grassroots.
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“Start Quote
End Quote Tim Loughton Conservative MPFar from being a wrecking measure, some of the strongest support for my amendment to extend civil partnerships comes from the biggest supporters of same-sex marriage in the Labour and Lib Dem parties”
MPs get a free vote on the Marriage
(Same Sex Couples) Bill because it is considered an issue of conscience and
many Conservative MPs spoke out against the principle of gay marriage.
Former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth said the plans were "divisive" and suggested there were are plenty of people "in the aggressive homosexual community who see this as but a stepping stone to something even further".
A group of Tory MPs, led by former Conservative minister Tim Loughton, have been attempting to amend the bill, with a plan to extend civil partnerships - which came into force in 2005- to heterosexual couples.
'Scaremongering'
Mr Loughton said the amendment would make the bill "less unpalatable", since extending civil partnerships to co-habiting heterosexuals would address a "glaring inequality" in the current proposals as well as encouraging family stability.
"This is all about equality," he said. "If the government is serious about equality they should be backing my amendment and not scaremongering about it."
Ministers initially said the status of civil partnerships should be reconsidered at a later date, potentially in 2019, and doing so now would throw up a whole new set of "complex" issues, such as pension entitlements for heterosexual civil partners.
Labour's equalities team, led by shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, had been thought likely to support Mr Loughton's amendment - which could have potentially endangered the entire bill.
But it later put forward its own compromise amendment which would start an immediate consultation on whether to extend civil partnerships to opposite sex couples.
Speaking earlier on Monday, Ms Cooper said: "Labour votes have got this bill through so far and Labour votes will get this through the next couple of days, when the government is deeply divided and fighting itself."
Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said it was his party's position to extend civil partnerships to everybody, irrespective of their sexuality and he had "no problem" with the principle.
"I don't want anything to interfere with the central purpose of this legislation," he said.
"The bottom line is that I will do whatever I judge is best to safeguard the bill and to make sure that it does not become hijacked by those whose ulterior motive is actually to discredit or to derail the legislation."
'Crisis of conservatism'
While so far failing in their attempts to amend the legislation, Conservative MPs have voiced their concerns in large numbers on a range of issues.
A proposal which would have allowed civil registrars to opt out of presiding over gay marriages on grounds of conscience was defeated by 340 votes to 150.
Several Cabinet ministers remain opposed to the plans as a whole. Last week, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said too much time had been spent on a policy which had angered many.
On Sunday, 34 current and former local party chairmen delivered a letter to Downing Street opposing the gay marriage policy as "flawed, un-Conservative, divisive and costing us dearly in votes and membership".
However, a separate letter, signed by more than 100 Tory activists, praised Mr Cameron for his stance, saying it was an issue of particular importance to younger voters, and MPs risked appearing out of touch if they pandered to a vocal minority.
Stonewall, which campaigns for equality for gay, lesbian and bisexual people, said it would be a "terrible pity" if the legislation got "bogged down" and urged MPs from all parties not to "play politics" with it.
Under the bill, the Church of England and the Church in Wales would be banned from offering same-sex marriages because of their strongly stated opposition, unless they changed canon law.
Other religious organisations would be able to "opt in" to holding ceremonies. There are currently no plans for similar legislation in Northern Ireland, but there are already plans for a bill to allow same-sex marriage in Scotland.
The UK debate comes the week after France became the ninth European country, and 14th in the world, legalise gay marriage. Earlier this month Rhode Island became the 10th US state to allow same-sex marriages.
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