JERUSALEM: Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday cleared the way for same-sex couples to have children through surrogate mothers, a move hailed by lawmakers and activists as a victory for LGBTQ rights. The court ruled in 2020 that a surrogacy law, which had expanded access to single women but excluded gay couples, "disproportionately harmed the right to equality and the right to parenthood" and was unlawful.

It gave the government a year to draw up a new law, but parliament failed to meet the deadline.

The court said Sunday that "since for more than a year the state has done nothing to advance an appropriate amendment to the law, the court ruled that it cannot abide the continued serious damage to human rights caused by the existing surrogacy arrangement."

The change in the law is to take effect in six months to allow the formation of professional guidelines, it said. (To read the full article, Click Here.)