Italian law on surrogacy makes the rounds. Schlein: “Atrocious propaganda at the expense of children”

Brussels – For the New York Times it is a “hard blow” to gay and infertile couples; for the Washington Post “many Italian families will live in the shadows;” France’s Le Monde speaks of a law pushed by “a premier who paints herself as a mother and a Christian.” The law according to which the Italian government made surrogacy (GPA) a universal offense is making the rounds. From Brussels, Italian opposition leader Elly Schlein called it “atrocious propaganda at the expense of people and children.”

Already a crime in Italy for 20 years, surrogacy will now be prosecuted even if practiced abroad. With penalties of up to two years imprisonment and fines of up to €1 million. The law, proposed by Fratelli d’Italia, consists of only one article, which amends the previous 2004 law by adding, “If the acts referred to in the previous period are committed abroad, the Italian citizen shall be punished according to Italian law.”

For the secretary of the Democratic Party, the law is an “ideological monstrosity” that “tramples the fundamental rights of girls and boys.” In addition to triggering a potential “witch hunt” against those who have resorted to surrogacy, the law could have heavy repercussions on sons and daughters, with investigations or possible convictions against parents. As the  Luca Coscioni Association reports, currently, 65 countries in the world that allow surrogacy by law, while 35 provide a solidarity-based form of it. Only Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Cyprus, and Ireland allow it in the European Union. However, no one criminalizes it if practiced abroad.

The new Italian law not only affects heterosexual couples who are unable to have children. More significantly, it makes it practically impossible for a gay family to build a family as they are already barred from adopting under Italian law. Carolina Morace, MEP of the 5 Star Movement, called it “An international embarrassment”  and said she wished “the Constitutional Court or the Court of Justice of the EU will soon reject this attack on the freedom of citizens that makes even someone like Orban pale in comparison.”