Legal initiative for Gestational Surrogacy in Portugal: an overview of the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues
Gestational surrogacy is a controversial ethical issue worldwide. In 2016, Portugal launched a second political attempt to legalize gestational surrogacy, proposing it as: being altruistic; forbidding a biological tie between the surrogate and the child; requiring a biological relationship between o...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Catalan |
| Published: |
Universidad de Barcelona
2022-10-01
|
| Series: | Revista de Bioética y Derecho |
| Online Access: | https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/RBD/article/view/39614 |
| _version_ | 1811322686614274048 |
|---|---|
| author | Maria Patrão Neves |
| author_facet | Maria Patrão Neves |
| author_sort | Maria Patrão Neves |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Gestational surrogacy is a controversial ethical issue worldwide. In 2016, Portugal launched a second political attempt to legalize gestational surrogacy, proposing it as: being altruistic; forbidding a biological tie between the surrogate and the child; requiring a biological relationship between one of the legal parents and the child; and demanding a legal contract between the surrogate and the legal parents. The law was approved, regulated and entered into force. However, months later, the Constitutional Court ruled some of its norms unconstitutional, namely due to: the legal ambiguity of the surrogacy contracts; too short a deadline for the surrogate’s withdraw of consent; and the need to comply with the children’s right to know their biological origin. The law entered a complex political and legal process. It also caused a serious problem in assisted reproductive treatments, with the suspension of those treatments that entailed the anonymity of the donors. The law on surrogacy was, finally, enacted in November 2021, although the introduction of its regulation is still pending. This paper describes the legal process, within its political context, stressing the ethical issues at stake, and presenting the initiative for legalization of gestational surrogacy in Portugal as a valuable case study analysis: of how a top-down initiative, ideologically driven and politically rushed, and which ignores ethical advice, generates a troubled and penalizing legal process for the people involved. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:40:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-abc0bbea90584af188b8635bf38ac08c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2545-6385 1886-5887 |
| language | Catalan |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:40:23Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Universidad de Barcelona |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revista de Bioética y Derecho |
| spelling | doaj.art-abc0bbea90584af188b8635bf38ac08c2022-12-22T02:44:40ZcatUniversidad de BarcelonaRevista de Bioética y Derecho2545-63851886-58872022-10-01557410.1344/rbd2022.56.3961437036Legal initiative for Gestational Surrogacy in Portugal: an overview of the legal, regulatory, and ethical issuesMaria Patrão Neves0National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences, PortugalGestational surrogacy is a controversial ethical issue worldwide. In 2016, Portugal launched a second political attempt to legalize gestational surrogacy, proposing it as: being altruistic; forbidding a biological tie between the surrogate and the child; requiring a biological relationship between one of the legal parents and the child; and demanding a legal contract between the surrogate and the legal parents. The law was approved, regulated and entered into force. However, months later, the Constitutional Court ruled some of its norms unconstitutional, namely due to: the legal ambiguity of the surrogacy contracts; too short a deadline for the surrogate’s withdraw of consent; and the need to comply with the children’s right to know their biological origin. The law entered a complex political and legal process. It also caused a serious problem in assisted reproductive treatments, with the suspension of those treatments that entailed the anonymity of the donors. The law on surrogacy was, finally, enacted in November 2021, although the introduction of its regulation is still pending. This paper describes the legal process, within its political context, stressing the ethical issues at stake, and presenting the initiative for legalization of gestational surrogacy in Portugal as a valuable case study analysis: of how a top-down initiative, ideologically driven and politically rushed, and which ignores ethical advice, generates a troubled and penalizing legal process for the people involved.https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/RBD/article/view/39614 |
| spellingShingle | Maria Patrão Neves Legal initiative for Gestational Surrogacy in Portugal: an overview of the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues Revista de Bioética y Derecho |
| title | Legal initiative for Gestational Surrogacy in Portugal: an overview of the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues |
| title_full | Legal initiative for Gestational Surrogacy in Portugal: an overview of the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues |
| title_fullStr | Legal initiative for Gestational Surrogacy in Portugal: an overview of the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues |
| title_full_unstemmed | Legal initiative for Gestational Surrogacy in Portugal: an overview of the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues |
| title_short | Legal initiative for Gestational Surrogacy in Portugal: an overview of the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues |
| title_sort | legal initiative for gestational surrogacy in portugal an overview of the legal regulatory and ethical issues |
| url | https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/RBD/article/view/39614 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariapatraoneves legalinitiativeforgestationalsurrogacyinportugalanoverviewofthelegalregulatoryandethicalissues |