Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Treat surrogate parents as sex offenders, says Italian (interior) minister
Source: The Guardian
Treat surrogate parents as sex offenders, says Italian minister
Rosie Scammell in Rome
Wednesday 6 January 2016 13.43 GMT
Angelino Alfano says ‘wombs for rent’ should be punishable with prison, as he
suggests new laws will make it easier for gay couples to use surrogate mothers
Italy’s interior minister has called for surrogate parents to be treated as sex offenders, as part of a broader campaign against the prime minister’s efforts to grant family rights to same-sex couples.
“We want ‘wombs for rent’ to become a universal crime. And that it is punished with prison. Just as happens for sexual crimes,” Angelino Alfano said on Wednesday.
The minister’s comments outline the fierce debate over family rights under way in Italy as the country prepares to give gay couples legal rights for the first time. The push for same-sex unions and stepchild adoption rights has proved perhaps the greatest challenge in the first two years of Matteo Renzi’s coalition government.
Surrogacy is illegal in Italy and punishable by steep fines and up to two years in prison, although a legal grey area has meant that couples who travel abroad for surrogacy are not prosecuted when they return home.
Treating couples who use surrogate mothers as sex criminals, as Alfano suggested, would entail harsh penalties.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Rosie Scammell in Rome
Wednesday 6 January 2016 13.43 GMT
Angelino Alfano says ‘wombs for rent’ should be punishable with prison, as he
suggests new laws will make it easier for gay couples to use surrogate mothers
Italy’s interior minister has called for surrogate parents to be treated as sex offenders, as part of a broader campaign against the prime minister’s efforts to grant family rights to same-sex couples.
“We want ‘wombs for rent’ to become a universal crime. And that it is punished with prison. Just as happens for sexual crimes,” Angelino Alfano said on Wednesday.
The minister’s comments outline the fierce debate over family rights under way in Italy as the country prepares to give gay couples legal rights for the first time. The push for same-sex unions and stepchild adoption rights has proved perhaps the greatest challenge in the first two years of Matteo Renzi’s coalition government.
Surrogacy is illegal in Italy and punishable by steep fines and up to two years in prison, although a legal grey area has meant that couples who travel abroad for surrogacy are not prosecuted when they return home.
Treating couples who use surrogate mothers as sex criminals, as Alfano suggested, would entail harsh penalties.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/06/treat-surrogates-sex-offenders-italian-minister-angelino-alfano
