"L'Italia al confronto con regole restrittive sull'embrione.
La legge in discussione rappresenterebbe un danno enorme per la
ricerca italiana, dicono gli scienziati."
I commenti di Rita Levi Montalcini, di Umberto Veronesi

professor Enzo Reale

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December 5, 2003

Italy faces strict embryo rules
Legislation under debate would be terrible for Italian research,
scientists say
By Rossella Lorenzi

Calling Italy the "Wild West of assisted reproduction," where
menopausal women give birth and embryo tourism and human cloning
plans abound, Italian legislators from different parts of the
political spectrum have united in pushing for strict regulations
aimed to govern the field of reproductive technology.

On Wednesday (December 3), during the debate for the final approval
of a controversial law on assisted fertility, the Senate gave support
for some rules that have gained worldwide condemnation by scientists.

More than 500 amendments were presented during Wednesday's session,
promising to make the debate long and heated. Opposition forces hope
to have at least one amendment approved, so that the law will have to
go back to the parliament for a third discussion.

On the first day of the debate, senators confirmed the first of 18
articles approved by the lower house of the Italian Parliament last
June, focusing on the rights of the conceived and limiting access to
assisted reproduction to sterile couples. An amendment that broadened
the possibility of using assisted reproduction for preventing
genetically transmitted diseases was rejected.

The new law could call into question the country's 1978 abortion law
and pave the way for a long list of bioethical bans on any
experimentation involving embryos. This includes a prohibition of any
testing of embryos for research and experimental purposes, freezing
embryos, and embryo suppression.

"Scientific research will be cut off in Italy. This law will prevent
scientists from working on some the main trends in fertility
research: embryos as sources of stem cells and genetic investigations
to prevent diseases," Ermanno Greco, of the Center for Reproductive
Medicine of Rome's European Hospital, told The Scientist.

Other controversial articles include banning donor insemination and
denying access to artificial procreation techniques to single women.
The proposed law also specifies that no more than three cells may be
fertilized in vitro and that they all must be transferred into the
womb simultaneously.

"This law seems not to take into consideration important scientific
data. Multiple pregnancies will increase in young women," Greco said.

Called "medieval" by women parliamentarians of many moderate
political shades, the legislation caused concern among several
scientists when it was approved by the lower house.

Nobel Laureate Rita Levi Montalcini and oncologist and former health
minister Umberto Veronesi, wrote an open letter in favor of embryo
research; the International Federation of Fertility Societies
deplored the passing of a law; and the European Society of Human
Reproduction and Embryology condemned it as "disastrous."

Links for this article
Italian Senate
http://www.parlamento.it/senato.htm

Rita Levi Motalcini
http://www.nobel.se/medicine/laureates/1986/index.html

International Federation of Fertility Societies
http://www.iffs2004.com/iffs/default.htm

European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
http://www.eshre.com