Many of us involved with the Stop Surrogacy Now campaign submitted requests to the the Australian Parliament, as they were holding an open public inquiry on surrogacy.
Currently, the law in Australia only permits altruistic surrogacy, which means pressure groups have complained that Australians have to travel abroad in order to hire a woman to have a baby for them.
Thankfully, the report has come back and the law stays for now—only altruistic surrogacy will be allowed. From the report:
First and foremost, the Committee recommends that the practice of commercial surrogacy remain illegal in Australia. This recommendation was informed by the view that, even with the best of regulatory intentions, there is still significant potential for the exploitation of surrogates and children to occur.
Of course, we believe no surrogacy should be permitted, but it is welcome, good news that commercial surrogacy remains illegal in Australia.
Author Profile
- Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.
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