When Left-Wing Feminists and Conservative Catholics Unite

[rug]

In Europe, a reproductive rights issue yields an unlikely partnership.



A woman shows writing reading 'my uterus is a ZAD (zone to defend)' as protesters face supporters of the anti-gay marriage La Manif Pour Tous (Protest for Everyone) movement during a protest against medically assisted procreation techniques for lesbian couples and surrogacy on May 10, 2016 in Nantes, western France.Jean-Sebastian Evrard / AFP / Getty

ANNA MOMIGLIANO
MAR 28, 2017

Conservative Catholics and left-wing feminists often find each other on opposite sides of political debates, especially when it comes to what women should do with their bodies. Yet in Europe, there is a reproductive rights issue on which the Catholic Church, well-known for its staunch pro-life position, is finding common ground with pro-choice feminists: surrogacy.

The practice whereby a woman carries a pregnancy to term for third parties is legal in the United States and Canada, but not in most of Western Europe. Some countries, like France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Sweden, have banned surrogacy outright. Others, such as the United Kingdom, don’t have specific laws against surrogacy, but recognize the woman who gives birth to a child as the legal mother, making any surrogate agreements unenforceable. The European Parliament rejected surrogacy in a 2015 non-binding resolution.

At a high-profile anti-surrogacy conference that took place inside Rome’s Lower House of Parliament last Thursday, one of Italy’s most prominent feminist organizations urged the United Nations to “ban the practice of surrogacy,” describing it as “incompatible with human rights and with the dignity of women.” The feminist organization, Se Non Ora Quando, gained international fame for organizing a massive 2011 protest against then-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, and the group is well known at home for its pro-choice views. It was natural enough, then, that the conference should be attended by left-leaning feminists from Italy, Germany, France, and Sweden. But conservative Catholic politicians were also in attendance, and the conference was praised in the Catholic media, most notably by Avvenire, the newspaper owned by the episcopal conference of Italian bishops.

This coming-together of conservative Catholics and left-wing feminists was the latest manifestation of a coalition that has been building in Europe over the past few years to oppose surrogacy. The same pairing has appeared in Spain, where the conservative Catholic Popular Party joined forces with feminist lawmakers from left-leaning parties like the Socialists and Podemos to prevent the legalization of surrogacy. And it has appeared in France, where a left-wing feminist collective and the ultraconservative Catholic organization Manif Pour Tous have launched similar anti-surrogacy campaigns.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/03/left-wing-feminists-conservative-catholics-unite/520968/

[AtheistCrusader]

1. Totally normal for the Catholic Church to oppose reproductive freedom, especially a form of it that

can benefit same-sex couples who wish to have children. Totally expected.


Why, in the hell, are 'pro-choice European feminists' against it as well, to the point they'd join forces with anti-choice elements like conservative Catholics?


Thanks though, for the article and the reminder that the RCC doesn't give a shit about families. Dogma first, humans never.

Edit: Ah, half the article didn't load because the Atlantic's paywall/ad revenue thing malfunctioned. Reading more.
Edit2: Wow, a bunch of Europe has odd ideas about the nature of surrogacy. I just outright adopted but it's just a small step removed from intentional surrogacy. I think these people have misidentified the mechanism/need. A sperm donor is ALSO a surrogate, just a much smaller investment in the total process of producing a live birth.