The surrogacy or surrogate has become in “universal crime” in Italy. The law, which punishes those who have a child that has been carried by other peopleeven if the subrogation has occurred abroadwas approved this Wednesday in the Senate. The result was 84 votes in favor of the new law, 58 against and no abstentions. The text had been already approved in the Chamber of Deputies, but the approval of the Senate was lacking.
Surrogacy had been illegal in Italy since 2004, with the Government of Silvio Berlusconi, but the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, had promised extend the ban, with the qualification of a universal crime, for Italians who carry out surrogacy abroad, even if it is carried out in countries where it is legal (surrogacy is legal in 65 states; of them, 6 in Europe). The leader of the Brothers of Italy, who describes surrogacy as “inhumane,” firmly supports Pope Francis’ campaign to make the ban on surrogacy universal. The law punishes this universal crime with imprisonment of three months to two years and a fine of 600,000 to one million euros.
The uproar has been great and strong words have flown during the debate in the Senate, sparks flying among the parliamentarians, a reflection of the controversy aroused by the law. The government majority has exulted with its approval of the law, although the leader of the League, the far-right Matteo Salvini, would have liked it to The penalties would have been harsher, even up to 10 years in prison. “With this measure – underlined the leader of the League group in the Senate, Massimiliano Romeo – we want to prevent the ban planned in Italy from being evaded by traveling abroad to entrust a child who will later be recognized in our country.”
For the promoter of the Law, parliamentarian María Carolina Varchi, from Brothers of Italy, with the new regulations “a dehumanizing practice is put to an end”.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties consider that “the law is a legal absurdity.” The deputy Riccardo Maggi, secretary of +Europe, has written on social networks that “Parliament has written a black page for rights and freedoms. Faced with the barrage of criticism that has arisen from the opposition, inside and outside the Senate, the Minister for Birth, Eugenia Rossella, has responded like this: “Those who hide behind the rhetoric of ‘rights’ should ask themselves why there is a global network of feminism that supports Italy’s initiative and considers our country an example to follow everywhere. Today, with the vote of the Italian Parliament, the rights have not been denied, but on the contrary, they have been reaffirmed and finally made effective.
The text approved in the Senate consists of a single article that modifies the 2004 Law, which considered surrogacy illegal in Italy, now extending the crime abroad. Among the interventions, it is worth highlighting that of Elena Cattaneo, senator for life appointed thanks to her merits by the resident of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella: «This bill exposes us to the risk that we will face to an ideological manifesto, instead of rationally facing an issue that must have as its guiding star the freedom and self-determination of people and the psychophysical well-being of the minor, whatever the circumstances in which it comes to light.”
Senator for life Cattaneo Cattaneo has recalled that surrogacy It is allowed, among other countries, in Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, Great Britain, Ukraine, Russia, the United States and Canada, emphasizing that it is, therefore, “a practice that clearly cannot be considered a crime with a value “universal negative social.” «Regardless of what one thinks, legitimately, about this election – Cattaneo concluded – it is difficult for me to understand how solidarity pregnancy can be compared with very serious crimes that, yes, evidently have a universal impact: I am thinking of pedophilia, terrorism or actions of genocide.«
On the other hand, it should be noted that in Italy only women are allowed heterosexual and married women undergo in vitro fertilization, even in private clinics. Single women or those with same-sex partners are denied access to in vitro fertilization, forcing them to travel to another country, especially Spain or the United Kingdom, for treatment.
#Italy #punish #surrogacy #carried
