Italian Court Overturns Ban On Egg Or Sperm Donations

ROME (AP) — Italy's constitutional court has struck down a ban on egg or sperm donation for infertile couples.

Wednesday's ruling was a victory for couples challenging the ban on medically-assisted egg or sperm donation that is part of a 2004 law regulating procreation.

Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin, saying the law had effectively been "gutted," called on Parliament to revise the legislation.

Affluent couples in Italy often circumvented the ban by traveling to European countries which allow egg or sperm donation.

In 2009, the constitutional court struck down another contested provision of the law that said at most three embryos could be created at one time and that all three must be implanted.

The conservative law reflects the influence on lawmakers by the Vatican, whose teaching forbids artificial procreation.

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