(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 23 - The Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) on Thursday entered Italy's heated debate about surrogacy and the rights of same-sex-parent families, with a statement saying children must never be considered "products".
    Surrogacy is already illegal in Italy but Premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party has tabled a bill that would make it a "universal crime", meaning that Italians could be prosecuted for using the practice in foreign States where it is legal.
    Many Italian same-sex couples have had children via surrogacy outside the country.
    Surrogacy became a hot topic after Milan was recently forced to stop a procedure it had used to register both members of a same-sex couple as the parents of a child after the prefect's department warned it was illegal following consultations with the interior ministry.
    The procedure was based on the transcription into the Milan civil register of foreign birth certificates of children conceived by surrogacy or assisted fertility, which is only allowed for heterosexual couples here.
    A major rally took place in Milan on Saturday to protest against transcriptions of birth certifications in such cases being stopped and to defend the right of same-sex-parent families.
    The CEI expressed "strong concern" about "growing individualism and the advance of visions that risk distorting the idea of the family itself.
    "Recognizing the original, unique and complementary nature of the institution of the family entails, first of all, protecting children, who can never be considered a product," it said.
    "In this regard, many people, even with very different ideas, recognize that practices that commodify women and newborns are unacceptable". (ANSA).