Italy passes sweeping restrictions on artificial reproduction

Published: 2004-02-11

ROME (CNS) -- Italy's parliament, led by Catholic legislators, passed a law imposing sweeping restrictions on artificial reproduction. After a long and bitter debate that split almost all parties across Italy's wide political spectrum, the measures were approved Feb. 10 in a secret vote, 277-222, with three abstentions. Legislators were told to vote their consciences and were not made to vote along party lines. The initiative was led primarily by Catholic parliamentarians who called for greater rights for the embryo and by politicians who called for controls on a procedure that up until now has had no legal guidelines. The limits contained in the law were considered a victory for many Catholics who had feared the consequences of no regulation whatsoever.

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