A Mexican parliamentary body has voted against legalising same-sex marriage throughout the country, bringing to an end a proposal that had sparked considerable opposition.

The Commission on Constitutional Matters, in the lower house of Congress, rejected the proposal by 18-9, with one abstention. Committee members argued that the initiative, as set out by President Enrique Peña Nieto, would violate the rights of states to set their own civil registry rules.

The National Front for the Family, which organised protest marches across Mexico after the proposal was first tabled in May, has delivered its own citizens' initiative to the Senate. This would modify the constitution to limit marriage to heterosexual couples.