FINALLY! Italy’s Salvini demands ten-year jail sentences for surrogacy

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The right-wing Italian League Party led by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini is seeking to double penalties for those using surrogate mothers abroad, in an amendment to a bill proposed by the ruling Brothers of Italy party that would make surrogacy a “universal crime.”

Surrogacy has been illegal in Italy since 2004, with in vitro fertilization only available to heterosexual couples. It is currently punishable by jail and a substantial fine.

Last year, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowed to expand the ban by criminalizing couples who travel overseas to have the procedure done in countries where it is legal. The bill, which was put forward by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, was backed by the lower house of parliament and is now being debated in the Senate. The new legislation would increase the fine from €600,000 to €1 million ($1,070,000), and the jail term from three months to two years.