Pope Francis Calls For Universal Ban on Surrogacy

Pope Francis on Monday called for a global ban on surrogacy, saying the practice of a woman carrying another person’s child was “deplorable.”

In his New Year’s address to diplomats at the Vatican, the 87-year-old Pontiff said it was a “grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child.”

In a speech dominated by calls for an end to conflicts around the world, the Pope said “The path to peace calls for respect to life.” This began “with that of the unborn child in the womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into a commercial product.”

“In this regard, I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs.”

The Pope said “a child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract. Consequently, I express my hope for an effort by the international community to prohibit this practice universally.”

“At every moment of its existence, human life must be preserved and protected, even though I note with regret, especially in the West, the persistent spread of a culture of death which, in the name of false compassion, discards children, the elderly and the sick.”

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