A summit advocating a worldwide ban on surrogacy has been hosted by the Vatican’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva. Ireland is about to pass one of the most liberal surrogacy laws in Europe.

Gabriella Gambino, an official of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, quoted Pope Francis saying surrogacy represents “a serious violation of the dignity and rights of women and children”, and the international community “must therefore feel called upon to reflect on the urgency of placing an absolute ban on all forms of surrogacy”.

The aim of the meeting, Gabriella Gambino explained in her introduction, was “to reflect on the urgency of an international response to the phenomenon of surrogacy.”

Aware of the fact that ‘procreative tourism’ generated by the divergence of states’ regulations on surrogacy “is still the cause of the transnational exploitation of women and children through this practice,” she said it is necessary “to deepen the possibility of a common commitment to ensure the universal safeguarding of the dignity and fundamental human rights of those involved.”