‘EXPLOITATION’

Pope Francis Says Surrogacy Is ‘Despicable,’ Calls for Ban

He called it “a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child.”

Pope Francis called for a universal ban on the practice of surrogacy, calling it “despicable” in a foreign policy address on Monday. In listing issues that threatened human dignity, Francis said unborn children should not be “turned into an object of trafficking” and should be “never the basis of a commercial contract.” Surrogacy is banned in parts of Europe, though the Vatican has said previously that same-sex parents who conceive via surrogacy can have their babies baptized. “I consider despicable 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,” Francis said.