When Left-Wing Feminists and Conservative Catholics Unite

Conservative Catholics and left-wing feminists often find each other on opposite sides of political debates, especially when it comes to what women should do with their bodies. Yet in Europe, there is a reproductive rights issue on which the Catholic Church, well-known for its staunch pro-life position, is finding common ground with pro-choice feminists: surrogacy.

The practice whereby a woman carries a pregnancy to term for third parties is legal in the United States and Canada, but not in most of Western Europe. Some countries, like France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Sweden, have banned surrogacy outright. Others, such as the United Kingdom, don’t have specific laws against surrogacy, but recognize the woman who gives birth to a child as the legal mother, making any surrogate agreements unenforceable. The European Parliament rejected surrogacy in a 2015 non-binding resolution.