Italian law extends ban on surrogacy abroad, with penalties of up to two years in jail and up to €1 million in fines.

Italy has made it illegal for couples to go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy after the senate voted on Wednesday in favour of a bill making surrogacy a universal crime.

The final approval from the senate, with 84 votes in favour, 58 against and no abstentions, comes after the divisive bill was already passed by the lower house last year.

The bill was presented by the right-wing Fratelli d'Italia party of premier Giorgia Meloni who has championed "traditional family values" during her two years in office and who recently described surrogacy as an "inhuman" practice.

Welcoming the senate result on social media, Meloni said the new law was a "common sense rule against the commodification of the female body and children", adding: "Human life has no price and is not a commodity."

Con l’approvazione definitiva di oggi al Senato, il ddl che rende l'utero in affitto reato universale è finalmente legge. Una norma di buonsenso contro la mercificazione del corpo femminile e dei bambini. La vita umana non ha prezzo e non è merce di scambio.

— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) October 16, 2024

The act of surrogacy, with or without payment, has been illegal in Italy for the last 20 years.

The newly passed law extends the surrogacy ban to those who go to countries such as Canada or the US where surrogacy is legal.

The new legislation, which carries penalties of up to two years in jail and up to €1 million in fines, is viewed by critics as a government crackdown on LGBT couples who are not permitted to adopt or use IVF treatment in Italy.

Oggi il Parlamento ha scritto una pagina nera, nerissima, per i diritti e per le libertà.

La destra ha infatti reso illegale, per i cittadini italiani, il ricorso alla maternità surrogata anche in quei Paesi in cui la GPA è perfettamente legale, normata e sicura.

Si tratta di… pic.twitter.com/Rzvu2Lzxgb

— Riccardo Magi (@riccardomagi) October 16, 2024

Opponents say the law - which comes amid a sharply declining birth rate in Italy - also penalises heterosexual couples who cannot have children themselves.

Riccardo Magi, leader of the liberal +Europa party, slammed the senate vote as "a very dark day for rights and freedoms", vowing to fight the law by challenging it in the constitutional court.

"Women’s bodies, wombs, and freedom belong to women" - Magi wrote on social media - "Not to Giorgia Meloni. Not to this government. Not to any government."

Photo credit: Alessia Pierdomenico / Shutterstock.com.