Italy outlaws overseas surrogacy for residents

Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Italian lawmakers passed a law on Wednesday making it illegal for couples to travel to the United States and other countries to circumvent Italy's ban on surrogacy to conceive a child.

Backed by Italy's governing far-right party, legislators voted 84-58 in Italy's Senate, backing the conservative agenda of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the country's first woman leader.

Violations can lead to up to two years in prison and fines up to $1.08 million.

"Motherhood is absolutely unique," said Italian Sen. Lavinia Mennuni, of the Brothers of Italy Party, according to EuroNews.com . "It absolutely cannot be surrogated and it is the foundation of our civilization. We want to uproot the phenomenon of surrogacy tourism."

But opponents railed at the decision, saying that it would be applied only to the poor and cut off a chance for couples who want to have children and families.

"[The law is] unreasonable and completely out of line with the rulings of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights," said Anna Rossomando, of Italy's center-left Democratic Party."

Opponents also worry it will particularly impact the LGBTQ community, as Miloni has previously spoken out about LGBT couples seeking to use the process to conceive a child.

"Yes, to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby," Meloni said in a 2022 speech.

LGBTQ activists protested outside the Senate during the voting with banners. They were joined by several lawmakers as well.

The law is in line with the views of Pope Francis and the powerful Vatican. A doctrine from the Vatican issued in April said that having a child should be a "gift" and should not become "a mere object" for transaction.