Calls for global ban on surrogacy by Pope Francis ‘not anything new’

Pope Francis’ calls for a global ban on surrogacy are “not anything new” because it has been opposed to these kinds of “reproductive technologies” since the 1960s, ANU Bioethics Senior Lecturer Dr Nathan Emmerich says. Pope Francis has called for a global ban on surrogacy, calling the act “deplorable” and a “grave violation” of the dignity of the mother and the child. This comes just weeks after he authorised Roman Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples in a significant shift in the church’s approach to LGBT people. “They are not anything new, really,” Dr Emmerich told Sky News Australia. “Ever since the Catholic Church affirmed its opposition to contraception back in the 60s, it has been opposed to these kinds of reproductive technologies. “Obviously, the focus tends to be abortion, but it is also against things like IVF and, of course, in order to have surrogacy, you have to go through IVF processes.”