Pope Francis called for surrogate motherhood to be banned worldwide, calling the practice of surrogacy “deplorable” and saying an unborn child “cannot be turned into an object of trafficking”, writes CBS NEWS.

In a wide-ranging speech to ambassadors of the 184 countries that have diplomatic relations with the Vatican, the pope said surrogacy represented a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child and that it exploited surrogate mothers’ financial circumstances.

“A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract”, Francis said.

In 2022, the pope called surrogacy “inhuman”, saying “women, almost all poor, are exploited, and children are treated like goods”.