“When Catholics, Protestants, Feminists, and Marxists all agree on something, you know it’s bad.” Those were the sentiments of Swedish author Kajsa Ekis Ekman, who appeared on a panel of journalists at the second annual Casablanca Declaration conference this week in Rome. The diverse attendees are united on only one front — their commitment to ban surrogacy worldwide.
I am one of the 100 “experts” from 75 countries who signed onto the Casablanca Declaration in 2023. Our eclectic coalition fights this motherless baby-enabling technology because it violates human dignity and the rights of both women and children. We encourage all countries to:
Prohibit surrogacy in their territory Deny any legal validity to contracts bearing the undertaking from a woman to carry and deliver a child Punish individuals and corporations acting as intermediaries between the surrogacy mothers and the orderers Prosecute individuals who have recourse to a surrogate mother in their territory Prosecute their nationals who have recourse to a surrogate mother outside their territory
The two-day conference was packed from morning to evening with speeches translated into Italian and English. The conference platformed speakers from five continents including members of the Italian parliament from both major parties, representatives of the Vatican, bioethicists, lawyers, scholars, journalists, and feminists. Other than the two UN representatives who carefully refused to take a position on the practice and were there to “listen,” presenters agreed that aggressive steps must be taken to ban surrogacy worldwide.
One of the chief spokeswomen for the Declaration,
