New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Bill which permits surrogacy only for couples who cannot conceive a child whereby prohibiting commercial surrogacy, and allowing altruistic surrogacy.
Congratulating members for supporting the Bill, Health Minister J P Nadda said despite the ruckus, a quality debate had taken place and this shows the concern of the members.
Despite the din, among others Supriya Sule (NCP), B Mahtab (BJD) , Kakoli Ghosh Dastidaar (Trinamool Congress), Nishikant Dubey (BJP) and N K Premachandran (RSP) debated the Bill and shared their views.
The Minister said, ''The Bill protects the dignity of women and children. It rejects commercial surrogacy totally and at the same time , the intention is to save the family.''
The Bill has been brought to regulate the surrogacy process so that couples without children can use medical science and extend family, he said.As many as 23 amendments have been made in the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, Mr Nadda said.
Non Resident Indians have been included in the Bill, he said.He said Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill has not been brought with the Surrogacy Bill as the Law Commission and the Supreme Court were clear that the Surrogacy Bill should be brought as soon as possible.
The Bill was passed by voice vote after rejecting opposition members' amendments although slogan shouting from Opposition members, including AIADMK, TDP and Congress, continued throughout the debate.(UNI)