They also allow people to receive “compensation or reimbursement for losses or expenses incurred” when making a donation. The measures passed in the parliament by 483 votes to 52 on Tuesday, despite amendments proposed by conservatives to prevent the use of fetuses for financial gain being voted down.
Those who voted in favor also ignored the appeals made by the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, which argued: “Human life is not just a ‘substance of human origin’…human life from the beginning, including unborn life ‘possesses its own dignity, right, and independent right of protection.'” Director of the NBIC Ethics think tank, Laetitia Pouliquen, also warned after the vote passed that it would create a “highest-bidder body and fertility market” across the continent.
The new framework will be sent to the European Council, with further discussions to start at the beginning of the next year.