Today is a great day of celebration for those of us who have worked tirelessly to stop the exploitation of women and the sale of children through contract surrogate pregnancies.  The vote was taken and the Italian government approved it. Surrogacy remains illegal in Italy and individuals or couples are who travel outside of Italy  who “carries out, organizes or advertises the marketing of gametes or embryos or surrogacy is punished with imprisonment from three months to two years and a fine from 600,000 to one million euros.”

This past summer I traveled twice to Italy to speak out against surrogacy at two different conferences. At one conference in Rome, I had the chance to meet again briefly with Eugenia Roccella, Minister of the Family, Birth Rate and Equal Opportunites.  Today Rocella said, “People are not objects” and “children cannot be bought, and parts of the human body cannot be sold or rented. It is a criterion of respect and civility, which Italian law has always followed, and which we want to continue to follow. The Italian Parliament, with the convinced support of the government, today reaffirmed that parenthood cannot become a commercial contract.”

The New York Times wrote, “The Roman Catholic church, along with many feminists, have opposed surrogacy, and it is outlawed in other European countries.” This is refreshing change in reporting as the main stream media typically sites opposition of surrogacy only by religious people and that is simply not the case.  Many people, religious or not, conservative or liberal, oppose surrogacy. Of course, The Washington Post couldn’t help themselves with this dishonest headline saying that Italy passed an anti-surrogacy law “that eeffectively bars gay couples from becoming parents.”  This law had nothing to do with sexual orientation and the law prohibits any and all surrogate pregnancies.

RadFemItaly, who we have worked closely with for years said they are celebrating this victory along with, “dozens of associations and feminists from all over the world  – Stop Surrogacy Now, Ciams, Finnrage, Women’s Declaration International, Japan Coalition Against Surrogacy, Feminist Legal Clinic, Prostitution Research & Education, Finaargit, Jennifer Lahl, Pyllis Chesler, Gena Corea, Sylviane Agacinski and many others – who together with us have supported and awaited with great hope the law on surrogacy “universal crime”, finally approved today also in the Senate, understood as a possible model for legislation in all countries.”

Giorgio Mazzoli with ADF International said on X, “Great news from Italy where a bill making surrogacy a universal crime has been difinitively approved.  The human dignity of women and children does not have a price tag.”  He counted the votes for us – 84 in favor of this law and 58 against with 0 absent votes.

We have joined our friends and colleagues from all around the world,  for over a decade, working side by side to realize this day.  Italy has set us an example of model legislation and we will continue to work in order to pressure other countries to do the same.

This is a long battle we fight as we seek to educate people on the many reasons surrogacy is harmful to women, children, and our society as a whole. We couldn’t do this work without your support.

Author Profile

Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
Jennifer Lahl, CBC Founder
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.