States General of the Natality 2023, Meloni and the Pope in Rome

On the stage of the Auditorium della Conciliazione. Together, both dressed in white. A long round of applause welcomes Pope francesco and the premier Giorgia Meloni, guests of the final day of the States General of the Natality. “Thank you for this invitation. For this beautiful and engaging initiative that is becoming a tradition, thanks beyond the usual words: we live in an age in which talking about birth, motherhood and family is increasingly difficult and seems like a revolutionary act. We had been warned : fight to prove that summer leaves are green or two plus two equals four, we need to have courage to support fundamental things for our society”, says the Prime Minister. Who attacks surrogacy from the stage, a theme that has been animating the political debate in recent months: “Uteruses cannot be rented and children cannot be chosen as if they were over-the-counter products”.

“Since day one, the government has put children and parents at the top of the political agenda, it has made the birth rate and the family the absolute priority of our action, because we want Italy to have a future again, to hope and believe in a better future than this uncertain present – Meloni continues in his speech – If women don’t have the opportunity to realize the desire for motherhood without giving up their professional one, it’s not that they won’t have equal opportunities, they won’t have freedom”. It’s still. “We have named a ministry after the birth rate, we have linked it to family and equal opportunities, it is not a choice of form but of substance. It is the synthesis of the program of a government that wants to face the great crises, among which the demographic one is undeniable. Because children are the first stone in building any future”, continues Meloni.

The attack on surrogacy

From the stage Meloni does not miss the opportunity to reiterate the government’s line on surrogacy: “We want a nation in which having a child is a beautiful thing, which takes nothing away from you and does not prevent you from doing anything – observes the premier – For decades the dominant culture has told us otherwise, the time has come to reverse the trend We want a nation in which it is not scandalous to say that, beyond legitimate personal choices, we were all born of a man and a woman, that motherhood is not for sale, wombs are not rented and children are not chosen as if they were over-the-counter products”.