The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Italy violated the rights of a couple carrying cystic fibrosis by preventing them from screening in vitro fertilisation (IVF) embryos to avoid giving the disease to any future children, Reuters reported. The ruling, which can be appealed, puts pressure on Italy to change its law and several Italian politicians renewed their calls for a change in the laws on assisted reproduction. The Strasbourg-based court ordered the Italian government to pay the couple 17,500 euros ($21,900) in damages and expenses. Under Italian law the only alternative for the couple was to conceive a child and abort the foetus if it was found to have cystic fibrosis, which they have already done once. The couple found out that they were carriers of the disease after their first child was born with it. They want to have a second child by IVF so that the embryo can be screened and aborted if it also has cystic fibrosis. -- SPA
