The Lower House judiciary committee
on Wednesday approved a bill making surrogacy a universal crime.
Under an amendment presented by the centre-right majority,
gestation for others would be punishable by law even if
committed abroad, but only for Italian citizens.
The bill should be sent to the assembly next week following
approval by the other relevant committees.
Surrogacy, which is illegal in Italy, has become a hot topic
under the right-ring government of Premier Giorgia Meloni, whose
Brothers of Italy (FdI) party presented the bill that would
prosecute Italians who resort to using surrogate mothers in
countries like Spain and the US where it is legal, making it a
"universal crime".
FdI has said that gestation for others is "worse than
paedophilia".
In March the government drew criticism from the opposition and
rights activists after it instructed city mayors to stop
registering the children of same-sex couples using a procedure
based on the transcription into Italian civic registers of the
foreign birth certificates of children conceived via surrogacy
or assisted fertility, which is only available to heterosexual
couples in Italy, citing a ruling by the Court of Cassation,
Italy's highest court.
centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) Secretary Elly
Schlein has said she is personally in favour of surrogacy.
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