Italian Prime Minister Meloni: Surrogacy is ‘inhumane’

“I still think renting out uteruses is inhumane,” Meloni said.

Italy’s prime minister said on Friday that surrogacy was an “inhumane” practice that treated children as “supermarket products” and urged parliament to pass a bill to prosecute those who travel abroad for surrogacy.

Parenting through surrogacy is already illegal in Italy, punishable by jail terms and fines, but Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing League has vowed to impose a stricter ban as part of its conservative agenda.

“No one can convince me that renting a womb is an act of freedom, no one can convince me that treating a child like an over-the-counter product in the supermarket is an act of love,” she said at an event. Events in Rome.

“I continue to believe that the practice of renting out uteruses is inhumane and I support the proposed law to make it a widespread crime.”

The Italian Parliament is debating a bill drafted by Meloni’s Brotherhood of Italy party that would ban Italians from having children in countries where surrogacy is legal, such as the United States and Canada.

The party’s position echoes that of the Vatican.

The bill, approved by Italy’s lower house of parliament and now before the Senate, has been criticized by human rights groups and some opposition politicians who say it targets LGBTQ people.

Former foreign minister Emma Bonino told Corriere della Sera this week: “This problem cannot be solved by a general ban but by regulation that balances the rights involved.”

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