INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Giorgia Meloni party which activists say is meant to target same-sex partners.Since taking office in 2022 Meloni has pursued a highly
conservative social agenda, looking to promote what she sees as traditional family values, making it progressively harder for LGBTQ couples
The bill was already approved by the lower house last year.The legislation extends a surrogacy ban already in place in Italy since 2004 to
those who go to countries such as the United States or Canada, where it is legal, imposing jail terms of up to two years and fines of up to
expressed by the Catholic Church.On Tuesday, demonstrators gathered near the Senate voicing their outrage at the bill, saying the government
someone has a baby, they should be given a medal
Here instead you are sent to jail..
demonstration.Rainbow Families President Alessia Crocini said 90% of Italians who choose surrogacy are heterosexual couples but they mostly
do so in secret, meaning the new ban would de facto affect only gay couples who cannot hide it.The clampdown on surrogacy comes against the
backdrop of falling birthrates, with national statistics institute ISTAT saying in March that births had dropped to a record low in 2023 --
practices that are perfectly legal in some countries.Source: Reuters--Agencies
