Activists say the law is the latest example of moves to erode civil rights since Giorgia Meloni took office
Activists say the law is the latest example of moves to erode civil rights since Giorgia Meloni took office AFP

Italian lawmakers on Wednesday extended the country's ban on surrogacy to couples who seek it abroad, despite warnings the move would damage children's rights.

The highly divisive bill, adopted by the Senate, makes Italians who seek surrogacy in other countries liable for prosecution on their return home.

It was championed by the far-right Brothers of Italy party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a self-described "Christian mother" who won 2022 elections on a campaign of nationalism and traditional family values.

Rights groups, including LGBTQ activists, have slammed the law as "medieval", but Families Minister Eugenia Roccella said the "ban... puts us at the forefront among nations on the rights front".

"People are not objects, children cannot be bought and you cannot sell or rent human body parts. This simple truth, already contained in our legal system, that punishes as a crime the aberrant practice of surrogacy, can no longer be circumvented," she said.

Under 2004 legislation, anyone involved in surrogacy in Italy faces three months to two years in jail and a fine ranging from 600,000 euros ($650,000) to one million euros.

Until now, Italians who can afford it have been able to travel to countries where surrogacy is allowed, such as the United States or Canada.

Media reports suggest the vast majority of them have been heterosexual couples who cannot have children themselves.

The far-right League party, a member of Meloni's coalition, said the law would stop people "going abroad to commission a child that is then recognized in our country."

The law has been strongly criticized by opposition parties who have warned that targeting people using surrogates abroad was impractical and unconstitutional.

Left-wing member of parliament Riccardo Magi said it was a "black day" for "parliament... for rights and for freedoms".

"The right has made it illegal for Italian citizens to use surrogacy even in those countries where (it) is perfectly legal, regulated and safe," he wrote on social media.

He said the law "equates childbirth and parenthood with 'universal crimes' such as paedophilia and genocide" and added the opposition would "fight" the law, challenging it in the Constitutional Court.

"Women's bodies, wombs and freedom belong to women. Not to Giorgia Meloni. Not to this government. Not to any government," he said.

Activists say the law is the latest example of moves to erode civil rights since Meloni took office.

The issue is part of a wider unsolved problem in Italy, which lacks a law to recognise the children of same-sex couples.

That leaves them in legal limbo with only the biological parent registered on their birth certificates, forcing the other to embark on the lengthy and costly process of adoption.

Surrogacy is banned in many European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden.

And while surrogacy is legal in Canada and in many parts of the United States, the status of the parents is often uncertain on their return to Europe.