Surrogacy ‘inhuman’ says Italy’s PM

Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni is giving full support to a parliamentary bill that will make surrogacy a universal crime.

“I continue to believe that surrogacy is an inhuman practice,” Meloni told the “For a Young Europe: Demographic Transition, Environment, Future” conference held in Rome on April 12. She added that she would like the law come into force “as soon as possible.”

Surrogacy, whether or not cash is involved, is already banned in Italy but the bill put forward by the Brothers of Italy party to which Meloni belongs would increase the existing €600,000 fine to €1 million.  Prison terms would be raised from three months to up to two years.

By introducing a law that makes surrogacy a universal crime, Italy’s legal system would be able to prosecute Italians who go to Spain, the UK or other countries where the practice is allowed.

This would also affect same sex marriages and single LGBTQ+ parents, neither of which are popular with Italy’s current government.

Nevertheless, Meloni was speaking at an event which had been organised to focus on Italy’s declining birth rate rather than surrogacy.

The problem was “an absolute priority” which her government intended to remedy by providing adequate childcare and other forms of support for working mothers, she said: “There is no point in managing the present, if the future is not secure.”

“Public spending aimed at supporting the birthrate is an issue that, more than any other, should be considered a productive investment,” Meloni said. “It is an investment in the stability of our social system and our civilisation.”