Casablanca’s Involvement in Protecting Women and Children in Ecuador

A bill proposed in Ecuador by the Ombudsman provides for the regulation of medically assisted reproduction, in which surrogacy is permitted.

Bernard Garcia, a Franco-Chilean doctor of law and executive director of the Casablanca Declaration, was invited by the NGO Dignidad y Derecho to speak to the Ecuadorian Parliament to explain the dangers of surrogacy. He drew in particular on the report recently published by Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, which states that all forms of surrogacy are contrary to international law and calls for its universal abolition.

Bernard Garcia also met with several of the country’s leaders, including a former President of the Republic, and was sought out by several media outlets. He also spoke to students at the country’s main universities.

The experts in Casablanca expressed their concern about the situation of exploited women in Latin America and called on the authorities in countries in this region to ban surrogacy on their territory and to join the international coalition working for the universal abolition of surrogacy.

The Declaration of Casablanca makes the following recommendations to the States:

• Prohibit surrogacy on their territory

• Deny any legal validity to contracts bearing the undertaking from a woman to carry and deliver a child

• Punish individuals and corporations acting as intermediaries between the surrogacy mothers and the orderers

• Prosecute individuals who have recourse to a surrogate mother on their territory

• Prosecute their nationals who have recourse to a surrogate mother outside their territory

• Act in favor of the implementation of a legal instrument bearing global prohibition of the surrogacy.

For more information about the Casablanca Declaration:

www.declaration-surrogacy-casablanca.org

On Facebook: Declaration for the Universal Abolition of Surrogacy

On X: @CasaDeclaration

Email: contact@declaration-surrogacy-casablanca.org

Press Contact: Bernard Garcia, Executive Director of the Casablanca Declaration, WhatsApp: +33 (0) 6 58 43 69 71