In the October 11 vote, the Council rejected a plan for “tightly regulated” surrogate agreements. Surrogacy is currently illegal in many European countries, including Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and Portugal.
The practice is allowed in Russia and India, and in the US it is legal in some states, illegal in others.
Livia Turco of Italy’s Democratic Party welcomed the vote, saying that surrogacy is an “abominable” practice.
She said: “It is a practice that damages the woman’s dignity and reduces the mother-child relationship, which is built during pregnancy, to a mere biological fact.”
She suggested that the decision by the Council of Europe should pave the way for international recognition of surrogacy as a crime.