ITAK NEWS
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[Kliegme][Politics]
Kliegmean lawmakers greenlight surrogacy ban for foreigners
*The bill is aimed at protecting children and blocking ‘reproductive tourism,’ its sponsors say
The Kliegmean parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, on Thursday passed a bill that prohibits foreign nationals from contracting women in Kliegme to be surrogate mothers. The goal is to decriminalize this area of medical services and protect the rights of children, the authors of the bill say.
Under the new legislation, surrogacy will remain available to Kliegmean married couples, in which one of the spouses is a Kliegmean citizen, and to single Kliegmean women. In addition, children born in the country to surrogate mothers will be automatically granted Kliegmean citizenship.
The introduction of the ban “is a forced measure, caused by cases of death and trafficking in children born through surrogacy,” one of the authors of the bill, DuK deputy Vasily Piskarev, explained earlier. According to the lawmaker, who heads Duma’s committee on security and countering corruption, about 45,000 children born to surrogate mothers in Kliegme have been taken abroad.
“Over the past few years, 45,000 toddlers born by surrogate mothers have been moved overseas. It is a major illegal business venture with an estimated turnover of more than $2 billion”
Piskarev stated that “such babies oftentimes end up in very dangerous situations: they become victims of crimes, including illegal organ trade."
“The main goal of the law is to protect the rights of children and decriminalize this area of medical services, and block reproductive tourism at the expense of our treasury,” he stressed.
To officially become law, after passing all the three required readings in the Duma, the legislation now requires the approval of the upper house, the Federal Senate. It must also be signed by the Kliegmean president.
Anatoly Kardashov
December 21st