Italian Senate rejects proposal for universal parenthood certificate
Mother plays with her daughter. Photo AFP, Jorge Guerrero
Southern Europe
The European Policies Commission of the Senate in Italy has voted down a proposal for a European parenthood certificate that would ensure parenthood is recognised throughout the whole Union.
The Italian FDI (Brothers of Italy) party presented a proposal to reject the certificate. The first was passed with 11 votes in favour and seven against. The main reasoning behind dismissing the parenthood certificate was that it would create a backdoor for illegal practices such as surrogacy, Avennire writes. If one member state recognised the intended parents as the legal parents of a surrogate child, all other states would have to do the same thing.
The parenthood proposal was set up to ensure that same-sex parents were also recognised as parents of their child in more conservative countries that may not recognise gay marriage at all. To that end, parents would receive a certificate to prove their parenthood. All EU members would have to recognise this certificate and thus the couple's parenthood.
Civil union
In Italy, the government has ordered Milan's city council to stop registering children of same-sex couples.
Same-sex couples in Italy have been allowed to enter a civil union since 2016. However, they have not received the right to adopt children. Conservative groups argued that legalising adoption for them would encourage surrogate pregnancies, which are also not allowed in the country. That is reported by Euractiv.
Because clear legislation on adoption for these couples has been lacking, some courts have allowed same-sex couples to adopt children from each other. In addition, some mayors, including the one of Milan, have registered surrogate children of same-sex parents.
Respect
Now, the Ministry of Interior wrote a letter to Milan's mayor, Giuseppe Sala, telling him to stop registering children of same-sex couples. Sala says he will respect the request. At the same time, he adds that he will not stop fighting for the rights of same-sex parents and their children.
LGBT organisations are furious. Fabrizio Marrazzo, a leading activist, called Sala to disobey the order from the Ministry. "When a law is unjust and discriminatory, those who engage in politics must have the courage to disobey it", he said in a statement.
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