ITALY BARS ARTIFICIAL PROCREATION... ESPECIALLY FOR SINGLES AND SAME-SEX COUPLES: The Washington Blade
A law virtually banning the freezing of embryos and the use of sperm and egg donors and surrogate mothers, as well as barring gays and singles from receiving artificial procreation assistance, won final approval in Parliament last week. Catholics and lawmakers from both the right and left joined forces, and the bill was passed in the Chamber of Deputies in secret voting by 277 to 222, with three deputies abstaining. The Senate approved it in December. After the law is signed by Italy's president and its text published in the government gazette, the legislation will go into force, effectively spelling the end of the country’s long-held reputation of the "Wild West" for artificial procreation. The Chamber president, Pier Ferdinando Casini, hailed the bill's passage, saying lawmakers "courageously took up the responsibility of making a law on such delicate issue." Fertility treatments will only be allowed for heterosexual couples -- both married and couples who have been living together for some time. Doctors face sanctions for assisting single women to conceive as well as for helping gay couples.
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