The Vatican calls for an absolute ban on surrogacy

The Vatican has once again denounced the practice of surrogacy during a meeting that took place at the UN headquarters in Switzerland.

Gabriella Gambino, undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, was in charge of moderating this event organized to raise awareness about the need to protect women and children from all forms of exploitation.

The event was held under the title “At what price? Towards the abolition of surrogacy: preventing the exploitation and commodification of women and children” at the United Nations Palace in Geneva (Switzerland).

The meeting was organized by the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva and the Foundation Charity in truth.

As a spokesman for the Vatican, Gambino stated that surrogacy represents “a serious violation of the dignity and rights of women and children.”

In this way, he urged the international community “to reflect on the urgency of establishing an absolute ban.”

Likewise, he recalled that there is “a global consensus” against this practice, “even from different political, ethical and religious positions.”

The authority of the Vatican Dicastery stressed that it is necessary to give an international response that acts against “procreative tourism” that continues to be “the cause of the transnational exploitation of women and children.”

“It is necessary to promote a common commitment to guarantee the universal protection of the dignity and fundamental human rights of the people involved,” Gambino stressed.

He later cited the Declaration Infinite dignitypublished by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith last April.

Referring to said document, he stressed that “every child has the right to have a fully human origin and to receive the gift of a life that manifests the dignity of those who give it and those who receive it.”

He defended that “not all forms of procreation are legal” and that “there is no right to a child in strictly legal terms that can justify any procreative practice.”

It also listed some negative consequences of this practice, such as “the depersonalization, commercialization and exploitation of women,” as well as “the objectification of the child.”

Furthermore, he denounced that it is a “form of contractualization of fundamental human relationships, destined to forever affect the identity and life of the subjects involved.”

Pope Francis has denounced this practice on repeated occasions. In June 2022warned that human dignity is being threatened by “the inhuman practice” of the so-called “surrogacy” since women are exploited and children are treated “as merchandise.”

It is worth remembering that the Church has always defended the importance of the originality of the transmission of life, which occurs through the sexual unity of spouses, and rejects any technical intermediation that seeks to replace them.