Will Surrogacy be banned in Europe?

On December 17th the European Parliament passed a motion condemning the practice of surrogacy. Parliament created and passed the motion because it was decided that the practice of surrogacy involves the exploitation of the human body and that the practice treats the women and children as commodities. Parliament has now called on the European Union, the Commission, and President to support and reaffirm this legislation. This same motion condemned human trafficking and the death penalty and called for the easing the path to safe abortions.

However, not everyone is happy with the motion, and in Belgium this coming May, international LGBT organizations want to gather and advocate for the practice of surrogacy. Some organizations have proposed Framework for Ethical Surrogacy in support of surrogacy and in order to create more thorough ethical guidelines. Mainly, the proposal emphasizes the importance of people having access to surrogacy in their own country since safety hazards arise when they must journey outward because of surrogacy restrictions. The Proposal also recognizes the importance of compensation and regulation during the surrogacy process.

But for now, here is the summary of the Hague’s proposal regarding their upcoming consideration of a new surrogacy convention calling for an outright ban on surrogacy reads in section 115 as follows:

„115. Condemns the practice of surrogacy, which undermines the human dignity of the woman since her body and its reproductive functions are used as a commodity; considers that the practice of gestational surrogacy which involves reproductive exploitation and use of the human body for financial or other gain, in particular in the case of vulnerable women in developing countries, shall be prohibited and treated as a matter of urgency in human rights instruments;“

The specific wording found here:

(http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P8-TA-2015-0470&language=EN&ring=A8-2015-0344)