14
Jun
2023
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Surrogacy in the EU - risks of exploitation and commercialisation (topical debate)
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, our constitutions, the Treaties of the European Union and the Western rule of law are based on the protection of the dignity of the person. The Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man is the ultimate expression in this regard. In the case of parenthood, legal tools have always been sought to defend the child's right to know and be cared for by his or her parents. Avoid the risk of a mother being able to snatch her baby. That's all at risk today. Technology has given rise to certain practices in reproduction, without timely reflection. Surrogacy is full of undeniable ethical and legal dilemmas. There are cases of children being abused or abandoned for being considered – sorry for the expression – defective. Women deprived of liberty, null contracts because the good of the person is unavailable. The person is a subject of rights, it can never be considered an object of transaction. This commodification of relationships, the reification of people, seeing them as an object of mere desire, is unaffordable because it transforms the treatment that every person deserves, pretending to end the inherent and infinite value that our existence confers. Gentlemen, consider the impact such a look has on our society. The human person acquires his status from its genesis, with a unique and unrepeatable genetic load, inheritance of his father and mother, from generation to generation. The expression of life cannot be dissociated from the affective and family dimension. Let's look for a robust legal system that avoids the risk of breaking the bonds that naturally unite parents and children. The Commission's regulatory proposal goes in this worrying direction.