Bishop protests after Italian court amends assisted pregnancy law

The Constitutional Court has struck down part of Italy's restrictive law on assisted pregnancy, prompting a warning from a Roman Vatican bishop yesterday that embryos will be "sacrificed".

In a ruling on Wednesday, the court rejected a part of the 2004 law that limited to three the number of embryos that could be implanted in the womb of a woman undergoing fertility treatment.

Judges also complained that the law - put forth during an earlier term in office by conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - failed to ensure that a woman's health be taken into account when embryos are implanted.

The Constitutional Court reviewed the law in the wake of a series of decisions taken by lower-level courts, notably one in January 2008 in Rome that also opposed the three-embryo limit.

Italy has one of the most restrictive assisted-pregnancy laws in Europe - a situation that reflects the Roman Catholic Church's staunch opposition to the practice.

A senior Vatican prelate, Bishop Elio Sgreccia, speaking to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, said the lifting of the three-embryo limit "risks leading to eugenic selection".

"Without limits, it is clear that a much bigger number of embryos will be sacrificed," said Sgreccia, honorary president of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

"The doctor will be tempted to select them," he said, recalling that the Roman Catholic Church advises women against assisted pregnancy.

The Roman Catholic bishops' newspaper Avvenire questioned the fate of "embryos that will not be implanted," but noted that Wednesday's ruling touched only parts of the 2004 law and did not represent "a fatal cut".

A referendum in 2005 on making assisted pregnancy easier in Italy failed due to a low voter turnout.

Plaintiffs who had taken the case to Italy's top court said yesterday the ruling was "a victory for the secular state" as the 2004 law had been strongly influenced by the Roman Catholic Church.

Former EU Commissioner Emma Bonino, an ex-minister, argued that the court decision was a "warning" to parliament as constitutional rights had been violated by the law, notably individual liberties.

The three-embryo limit has led to a higher number of triplets in Italy (2.7 per cent) than is the average in European countries (0.8 per cent). The Italian figure was 1.8 per cent before the law was adopted, according to the health ministry.

Italian couples seeking assisted pregnancy are also known to have travelled to other countries, notably Spain, after rejecting the three-embryo limit.

Maria Antonietta Coscioni of the opposition left-wing Democratic Party said the 2004 law "punished couples and made them feel guilty rather than helping them".