No Maternity Traffic acknowledges the dismissal, by the Committee on Social Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, of the draft resolution on surrogacy. This project was dangerous for it implicitly accepted the very principle of surrogacy.
This dismissal proves that it is possible to gather a majority of MPs in favour of an express prohibition of any form of surrogacy inasmuch as it is contrary to human rights.
No Maternity Traffic notes that the recommendation annexed to the resolution was nevertheless adopted, after being amended. It will be debated during the next Assembly session in October.
This project recommends that States should be “drawing up European guidelines to safeguard children’s rights in relation to surrogacy arrangements”.
No Maternity Traffic shares this primary objective of preserving children’s rights. Nevertheless, wanting to sincerely preserve children’s rights implies to adopt first the principle of prohibiting surrogacy in all its forms. It is vain, and even dishonest, to pretend to fight against the consequences of surrogacy on children, without condemning its cause first. Surrogacy is an absolute regression in the rights of women and the best interest of the child. Surrogacy, whatever its form, exploits women and generates children trafficking, where they are deprived partially or fully of their filiation.
The international collective No Maternity Traffic continues its commitment and invites all the member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to soon adopt a recommendation, which, just as did the European Parliament last year, condemns explicitly all forms of surrogacy and recommends State Members to adopt a common policy on the European level regarding this issue.