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“They are very worried about returning to Italy because there’s the prospect of jail and fines,” Gianni Baldini, a lawyer for the pair
Whatever happens next needs to be in the best interests of the child, but I will say if these men can afford to buy the bodies of two women: the eggs from one, the body and uterus of another, in order to buy a child, then they can afford to pay a fine.
That's exactly the problem with fines, though, isn't it?
The rich will just pay them.
So, what to do? Make the fine a hefty percentage of that specific couple's income? (Even then, fifty percent of their income hurts the moderately wealthy but not the very rich.)
Or give the male of the couple (only one, in case of male gay couples) jail time?
Whatever it is, it's gotta hurt or they'll just continue to buy children.
Yep. If the penalty to break the law is just a fine, then it's a law made for the poor.
During slave times, there were always local laws to "protect" slaves from being treated too harshly in the eyes of the law. You were not allowed to kill your slaves, starve them, etc. You had to provide them with clothing, shelter, food, that sort of thing. The state could even confiscate your slaves.
It was still slavery and it was still brutal. Regulations did almost nothing.
Regulations are no substitute for abolition.
I'm far from being a Maloni fan (or any right-wing politician), and I doubt she enforced that law just to protect women, but it's nevertheless a good thing because surrogacy is exploitation. It doesn't matter whether it's legal or not; it's still exploitation. Besides, that law applies to ALL Italian citizens, including straight couples who toy with the idea of buying a kid. They'd face the same punishment these two men are facing.
If you see smoke, that’s just my body going up in flames with rage at this idiot.
“Italy can’t argue that slaves in California are being exploited because in California it is perfectly legal” - see how something being legal doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right and not harming people?
Its the same argument men use to defend prostitution.
"She didn't have a gun to her head when she agreed to do it. So there's no coercion involved whatsoever!"
That argument won't work, because IIRC, European countries don't extradite US criminals if there is death penalty involved.