Italy restricts laws on assisted reproduction

Laws were passed by a large margin in the Italian Senate today, banning the use of donor sperm or donor eggs, surrogacy and embryo freezing, and assisted reproduction will only be available within stable heterosexual relationships. "This is exciting news," said Josephine Quintavalle of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, 'We congratulate our Italian colleagues for such inspirational leadership. At last a European country has had the courage to vote for laws which respect the dignity and right to life of the human embryo, demonstrate genuine concerns for the welfare of the child and elevate the values of society at large above those of a libertarian minority. "Usually referred to as the wild west of fertility treatment, Italy was in effect working hard to get its legislation right, and today's result brings reproduction under a strict control which hopefully will inspire the world. At long last we see a law on assisted reproduction where the child always comes first. "There are worries that abortion rights will be threatened by the new legislation, and for that we can only congratulate Italy even more heartily. It is a moment in Europe where abortion is under attack on a number of fronts, through our own cleft-palate case and the French abortion challenge in the Strasbourg Court. The Italian vote is the clearest indication of all that the tide is turning, and that the rhetoric of selfish choice is no longer a language we want to hear." Source: CORE