(Bloomberg) -- Italy’s parliament passed a bill that will impose prison terms on parents who use surrogates to have children abroad — even if the process was carried out legally.
The bill cleared the Senate on Wednesday with the support of 84 lawmakers, the last hurdle before it becomes law. The lower house passed the bill in July 2023.
Surrogacy has been long illegal in Italy, but in a bid to assert its socially conservative credentials, the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sought to push the law further.
Responding to the bill on X, Meloni praised it as a measure “against the commodification of the female body and children.”
Italy already punishes parents who use surrogates with prison sentences that can range from three months to two years and fines that begin at €600,000 ($651,780) and can rise to €1 million.
Now, Italian citizens who use surrogates outside of Italy will face the same fine and jail term.
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