Italy goes against 'rental wombs' abroad

He Parliament Italian amended this Wednesday a bill proposed by the alliance of rights that governs the European country since October, which reflects a first step towards penalize the practice of Surrogate motherhood in it foreign.

Since 2004, surrogate motherhood is a crime in Italywith penalties of jail from up to two years and fines from up to one million euros for “whoever, in any way, carries out, organizes or sponsors the commercialization of gametes either embryos“.

The new project seeks to go even further, and penalize those who resort to this reproductive practice even outside the italian bordersqualifying it as a “universal crime“, in the words of the far-right president of ministers Giorgia Meloni.

The amendment, approved by the Justice Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, prohibits Italian citizens from making use of “surrogate bellies” both in Italy and abroad. The foregoing with the justification of "obstructing any practice that can be configured as a commercial trafficking of children“.

The Commission's approval represents the first parliamentary "yes" to Meloni's bill, which is expected to pass the Chamber of Deputies next June 19, to later arrive at the Senate for final approval.

On the other hand, opposition parties, such as the Social Democratic Democratic Party (PD) or the populist 5 Star Movementthey have voted against of this initiative, as they argue that it goes against the Constitution and does not take into account child welfareamong other justifications.

The leader of Alleanza Verdi e SinistraDevis Dori, maintained that the alliance voted against the proposal of the brothers from italy (Conservative Party) to make surrogate motherhood a universal crime, as it "betrays the principle of best interests of the child“.

In addition, he stated that "until now no one has explained in what legal status the children of those who, despite the prohibition, still had to resort to surrogate motherhood abroad would be found”.

From a more neutral position, the secretary of the Democratic PartyElly Schlein, lineup lefthas recognized that it is an issue “delicate and dense“, which requires more documentation and trainingfueling a debate within his party.

For her part, the minister for the Family, Birth and Equal OpportunitiesEugenia Roccella, defended the position of the Meloni government, saying that it is "clear and absolutely condemning all forms of surrogate motherhood for being harmful of the dignity of the women and the rights of the children“.