The Constitutional Court is set to
rule on the case of a 40-year-old single woman who appealed to a
court of first instance in Florence after she was denied access
to a medically assisted fertility treatment at a centre in
Tuscany.
The Constitutional Court will issue a sentence in the next few
days after a hearing held on Tuesday to determine whether
article 5 of Italy's law 40 on assisted reproductive technology
which grants exclusive access to fertility treatments to married
or cohabiting heterosexual couples is constitutional.
The issue was raised by the tribunal of Florence after the
single woman, only identified as Evita, filed an appeal to be
granted access to treatment.
Other plaintiffs in the Florence trial include another single
woman who has applied for access to an assisted-fertility
treatment and the Luca Coscioni civil rights association.
"Changing the law would be a necessary step to guarantee equal
rights to women who try to become mothers", said Filomena Gallo,
the attorney representing the two women and the association Luca
Coscioni, who asked the Constitutional Court to declare the law
unconstitutional at the hearing on Tuesday.
The attorney general said on Tuesday that it considered the
appeal unfounded.
The Constitutional Court has previously struck down parts of the
controversial law limiting assisted-fertility treatments, which
was approved in 2004.
In one instance in 2014, it lifted a ban on the use of donor
sperm and eggs.
A year later, the Court also allowed couples carrying
genetically inherited disorders to access assisted-fertility
treaments.
Under the law, which was originally passed by a cross-party
alliance of Catholics, single parents, same-sex couples and
women beyond child-bearing age cannot use assisted-fertility
techniques.
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