JURIST - Paper Chase: Italian high court allows partial referendum on fertility law

[JURIST] Italy's Constitutional Court [official website] will allow a referendum to overturn parts of a controversial new Italian law on fertility treatments to proceed, but rejected a call for a referendum to completely overturn the law. Last year, Italian lawmakers passed a measure which allows only cohabitating heterosexual couples access to fertility treatments, bans egg or sperm donation or the freezing of embryos, and restricts the number of eggs that can be fertilized. In a ruling handed down Thursday, the court refused to allow a referendum that would completely overturn the law, but will allow the public to vote on certain elements of the law, including parts that restrict access to fertility treatment to heterosexual couples and rules on embryo research. In light of the court's decision, some lawmakers are calling for Parliament to amend the law, rather than put the law before voters. Reuters has more.

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