Surrogacy in the House on Monday. In the new text, only Italian couples are prosecuted
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Followed by a trail of controversies and cannonades from the opposition, the bill that makes gestation for other crimes universal is about to be examined by the Montecitorio Chamber. The green light of the Justice Commission of the Chamber arrived on Thursday 15 June to mandate the rapporteur, Carolina Varchi of Fratelli d’Italia. If the proposal goes through, surrogacy will become a crime in all respects in other countries as well, as well as in Italy where this practice has already been banned since 2005 but only on paper, given that no convictions have been recorded to date.
The bill
It has been one of Fdi’s flagships since the last legislature but the text has been marching in the corridors and rooms of the Chamber for several weeks already. The last act is a split even within the Democratic Party: the dem deputies are divided on an amendment signed by Riccardo Magi (+Europe) for the decriminalization of this crime in Italy. The group voted against this last modification proposal but some Dem deputies such as Alessandro Zan and Rachele Scarpa abstained. In essence, the oppositions have all contested the idea that a crime present in Italy can be unilaterally declared universal, i.e. punishable even if committed abroad, including countries where the conduct is lawful and regulated, such as Canada or the USA. The objection is that a law is the wrong instrument and that on the contrary an international convention ratified by the countries is needed to universally prosecute a conduct. In reality, the pdl does not aim to ban the practice in other countries but to prosecute those who return to Italy after having resorted to it. This is the position of the centre-right which rejected all the amendments. All but one.
Text correction
A proposal from the same majority passes which introduces a fundamental distinction: the new text in fact provides that only Italian citizens who carry out this practice in countries where it is permitted can be prosecuted, not foreign citizens. However Riccardo Magi (+Europe) highlighted that this would lead to paradoxical situations, in the case of a gay couple made up of an Italian and a foreigner. The rapporteur Carolina Varchi (Fdi) instead underlined that this new crime “will discourage the use of this practice, stopping procreative tourism and more generally this market”. M5s voted in favor and the Democratic Party was divided.
alternative texts
A counterpoint to the text of the majority was drawn up by the Luca Coscioni Association and filed on June 16 by the senator of Italia Viva Ivan Scalfarotto. “The bill on pregnancy for others in solidarity strongly condemns all forms of exploitation and commercialization – explains a note – providing for a specific crime for the full protection of people who generously provide availability to be able to carry on a pregnancy for those who cannot and putting at the center the rights of all the people involved and guaranteeing access to this assisted fertilization techniques for all those who need it with the absolute protection of those born in Italy or abroad”.
The contrary opinion of +Europe
«The Varchi bill to make gestation for others a universal crime is a legal shame, unsustainable from the point of view of law and unconstitutional. That’s why today I filed a proposal for an opinion against this law in the Constitutional Affairs Commission». And the battle continues.
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