Italy has declared illegal for its citizens not only to have a baby through surrogacy, but also to go abroad for this purpose.
The move extends a ban on the practice inside the country to also include those who seek it out in places where it is legal, like the US or Canada.
Those who break the law could face up to two years in prison and fines of up to €1m.
The law, proposed by the Italy’s far-right governing party and its leader Gioria Meloni, is seen to target LGBT couples, who are not legally permitted to use IVF or even adopt.
The law passed by 84 votes to 58 in Italy’s senate on Wednesday.
Yet Italy has struggled for years with an aging population and a declining birth rate.
Giorgia Meloni has described surrogacy as “a symbol of an abominable society that confuses desire with rights and replaces God with money”. Her deputy Matteo Salvini has called surrogacy an “aberration” that treats women like an “ATM”.
The BBC says that 90% of the couples who use surrogacy in Italy are straight, and many of them hide the fact that they have gone abroad to have a baby.
Along with Italy, neither Spain, France nor Germany allow surrogacy.
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