Italy has enacted a new law that expands the country's ban on surrogacy, making it a criminal offense to engage in "surrogacy tourism" and imposing severe penalties, including fines up to €1 million and up to two years in prison. Critics, especially LGBTIQ+ advocacy groups, argue that the law unfairly targets same-sex families and reflects broader ideological opposition to reproductive rights. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, backed by Pope Francis, defends the law as a measure to protect women's and children's dignity, but it has sparked protests and political debates on reproductive freedoms and LGBTIQ+ rights.
Compiled from: Antonia Mortensen, Barbie Latza Nadeau, and Christopher Lamb, “Italy criminalizes surrogacy abroad in move slammed as ‘medieval’ by critics”, CNN, Oct. 19, 2024.